Yahel
Hebrew name meaning "sharp memory" or "clear sky".
Name Census estimates that about 772 living Americans carry the first name Yahel. It is a predominantly male name (97.3% of registrations). The average person named Yahel today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Yahel births was 2008 (87 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Yahel. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
772
~ 1 in 443,982 Americans
Peak year
2008
87 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,509
Tracked since 2001
Census
Yahel in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 658 people with the first name Yahel, which placed it at #16,959 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#16,959
National first-name rank
People counted
658
658 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
84.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Yahel
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yahel is Hispanic at 84.8%. The next largest groups are White (9.1%) and Black (5.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Yahel described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Yahel at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino84.8% · 558
- White9.1% · 60
- Black or African American5.6% · 37
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 2
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.2% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Yahel
Yahel leans heavily male at 97.3% of total registrations, but 21 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Yahel as a male name
- Ranked #3,509 in 2024
- 33 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2014 (82 births)
Yahel as a female name
- Ranked #17,529 in 2024
- 5 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2008 (6 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Yahel leans strongly male. 543 people counted with this name were male (82.0%), compared with 119 female bearers (18.0%).
Popularity
Yahel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Yahel from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 447 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Yahel by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Yahel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Yahels live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. Texas, California, Illinois recorded the most babies named Yahel, while New York, Florida, Colorado recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 48 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Yahel
The name Yahel has its origins in the Hebrew language and culture, with roots that can be traced back to ancient times. In Hebrew, the name is derived from the word "ya'hal," which means "to hope" or "to expect." This linguistic connection suggests that the name may have been bestowed upon children as a symbol of hope and expectation for their future.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Yahel can be found in the Hebrew Bible, specifically in the Book of Numbers. Here, Yahel is mentioned as the name of a place located in the wilderness of Sin, where the Israelites encamped during their exodus from Egypt. This biblical reference suggests that the name has deep historical ties to the Israelite culture and may have been in use as a personal name during that era.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Yahel. One such figure was Yahel ben Shealtiel, a Jewish scholar who lived in the 12th century and was known for his expertise in biblical exegesis and Hebrew grammar. Another prominent bearer of the name was Yahel Dror, an Israeli politician and member of the Knesset (Israeli parliament) who served from 1977 to 1988.
In the realm of literature, Yahel Dolev is a contemporary Israeli author and poet who has published several acclaimed works, including the poetry collection "The Flowers of Galilee." Yahel Yoav Grafi is an Israeli film director and screenwriter known for his award-winning movies, such as "Shiva" and "Vasermil."
Turning to the world of sports, Yahel Amar is an Israeli professional basketball player who has represented the Israeli national team and played for various clubs in Israel and Europe. He was born in 1988 and continues to be an active player in the Israeli Premier Basketball League.
While the name Yahel may have roots in ancient Hebrew culture, its usage has transcended geographical and linguistic boundaries, with individuals from various backgrounds embracing this unique and meaningful name throughout history.
People
Yahel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Yahel as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with Y
Other first names starting with Y with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Yahel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Yahel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 772 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Yahel going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 443,982 US residents.
Is Yahel a common name?
We classify Yahel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 778 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Yahel most popular?
The single biggest year for Yahel was 2008, when 87 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Yahel is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Yahel in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 658 people with the name Yahel, or 0.22 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,959 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Yahel in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Yahel?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Yahel leans strongly male. 543 people counted with this name were male (82.0%), compared with 119 female bearers (18.0%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Yahel?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yahel is Hispanic at 84.8%. The next largest groups are White (9.1%) and Black (5.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Yahel most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Yahel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.8% (558 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Yahel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Yahel a male name?
Yes, 97.3% of people registered as Yahel in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Yahel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Yahel in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Yahel can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are called Yahel?
You can see how many people have the name Yahel on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.