Yan
A masculine name of Chinese origin meaning "bright" or "sun".
Name Census estimates that about 1,009 living Americans carry the first name Yan. It is a predominantly male name (90.4% of registrations). The average person named Yan today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Yan births was 2023 (44 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Yan. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Yan with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.0K
~ 1 in 339,697 Americans
Peak year
2023
44 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,902
Tracked since 1971
Census
Yan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 16,856 people with the first name Yan, which placed it at #1,778 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
#1,778
National first-name rank
People counted
17K
16,856 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
5.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
85.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Yan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yan is Asian/Pacific Islander at 85.8%. The next largest groups are White (8.1%) and Hispanic (4.8%). 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 Yan 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 Yan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander85.8% · 14,462
- White8.1% · 1,368
- Hispanic or Latino4.8% · 811
- Black or African American0.8% · 135
- Two or more races0.5% · 76
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.0% · 4
Gender
Gender distribution for Yan
Yan leans heavily male at 90.4% of total registrations, but 99 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Yan as a male name
- Ranked #2,902 in 2024
- 44 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (44 births)
Yan as a female name
- Ranked #18,323 in 2017
- 5 female births in 2017
- Peak: 2000 (11 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Yan on both sides of the split. Of the 16,856 people counted with this name, 4,828 were male (28.6%) and 12,028 were female (71.4%).
Popularity
Yan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Yan from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 314 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Yan remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Yan 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 Yan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Yans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. Florida, New York, California recorded the most babies named Yan, while Texas, Illinois, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 38 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Yan
The name Yan has its origins in various cultures and languages across the world. It is a name that has been in use for centuries, with varying spellings and meanings.
In Chinese, the name Yan can be written as 燕, which means "swallow" or "graceful". It is a popular name in China and has been used since ancient times. One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Yan can be found in the historical records of the Han Dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD).
In Hebrew, the name Yan is derived from the word "Yonatan", which means "gift of God". It has been used as a diminutive form of the name Jonathan. The name Yan has been mentioned in various Jewish religious texts and scriptures.
In Sanskrit, the name Yan is a variant of the name Ayan, which means "path" or "journey". It has been used in Indian culture for centuries and has been mentioned in ancient Hindu texts.
In Japanese, the name Yan is a variant of the name Yuki, which means "snow" or "happiness". It has been used in Japan for generations and has been mentioned in various historical records and literature.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals with the name Yan. One of the earliest recorded individuals with this name was Yan Zhitui (531-591), a Chinese scholar and writer during the Northern Qi Dynasty. Another notable figure was Yan Fu (1854-1921), a Chinese scholar and translator who played a significant role in the introduction of Western ideas to China.
In the realm of religion, Yan Huguo (1551-1624) was a prominent Chinese Buddhist monk and calligrapher during the Ming Dynasty. In the field of science, Yan Yuan (1635-1704) was a Chinese mathematician and astronomer who made significant contributions to the study of mathematics and astronomy.
Yan Xishan (1883-1960) was a Chinese warlord and politician who played a crucial role in the political landscape of China during the early 20th century.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals with the name Yan throughout history, showcasing the diverse cultural and linguistic origins of this name, as well as its enduring presence across various disciplines and eras.
People
Yan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Yan 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
Yan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Yan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,009 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Yan 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 339,697 US residents.
Is Yan a common name?
We classify Yan as "Rare". It ranks above 90.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,026 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Yan most popular?
The single biggest year for Yan was 2023, when 44 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Yan is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Yan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 16,856 people with the name Yan, or 5.58 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,778 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 Yan 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 Yan?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Yan on both sides of the split. Of the 16,856 people counted with this name, 4,828 were male (28.6%) and 12,028 were female (71.4%). 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 Yan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yan is Asian/Pacific Islander at 85.8%. The next largest groups are White (8.1%) and Hispanic (4.8%). 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 Yan most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Yan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 85.8% (14,462 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 Yan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Yan a male name?
Yes, 90.4% of people registered as Yan 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 Yan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Yan 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 Yan 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 have Yan as a first name?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.