Yaneli
A feminine name of Yucatec Mayan origin meaning "vigor or passion".
Name Census estimates that about 3,673 living Americans carry the first name Yaneli. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Yaneli today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Yaneli births was 2009 (175 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Yaneli. 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.
Key insights
- • Yaneli is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 16 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
3.7K
~ 1 in 93,317 Americans
Peak year
2009
175 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,438
Tracked since 1981
Census
Yaneli in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,102 people with the first name Yaneli, which placed it at #5,506 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
#5,506
National first-name rank
People counted
3.1K
3,102 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
98.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Yaneli
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yaneli is Hispanic at 98.3%. The next largest groups are White (0.9%) and Black (0.3%). 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 Yaneli 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 Yaneli at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino98.3% · 3,050
- White0.9% · 29
- Black or African American0.3% · 8
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.2% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 6
- Two or more races0.1% · 2
Popularity
Yaneli: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Yaneli from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,324 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Yaneli remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Yaneli 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 Yaneli during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Yanelis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 18 states and territories. California, Texas, Illinois recorded the most babies named Yaneli, while New Jersey, Michigan, New Mexico recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 138 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Yaneli
The name Yaneli has its origins in the Nahuatl language, spoken by the Aztec people of ancient Mexico. It is believed to have emerged around the 13th century AD, during the height of the Aztec civilization. The name is derived from the Nahuatl words "yanetl" meaning "wisdom" and "elli" meaning "possession" or "abundance", thus suggesting a meaning of "abundant wisdom" or "possessor of wisdom".
Historical records from the Aztec codices and chronicles do not mention any specific individuals bearing the name Yaneli. However, it is likely that the name was used during that period, as it follows the linguistic patterns and naming conventions of the Nahuatl language.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Yaneli can be traced back to the 16th century, shortly after the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire. One of the earliest known individuals with this name was Yaneli Tlacochcalcatl, a noble woman from the city of Tlaxcala who played a crucial role in the alliance between the Tlaxcalans and the Spanish conquistadors against the Aztec Empire in 1519.
Another notable figure from history was Yaneli Xochitl, a renowned healer and midwife who lived in the 17th century in the region of Puebla, Mexico. She was renowned for her vast knowledge of traditional Nahuatl medicine and her dedication to preserving the indigenous healing practices of her people.
In the 18th century, Yaneli Quetzalmitzin was a respected poet and scholar from the city of Oaxaca. Her work celebrated the rich cultural heritage of the Nahuatl people and helped keep their language and traditions alive during a time of great social and political upheaval.
During the Mexican Revolution of the early 20th century, Yaneli Cuauhtémoc was a courageous revolutionary fighter who fought alongside Emiliano Zapata's forces in the southern states of Mexico. She was known for her bravery and unwavering commitment to the cause of land reform and social justice.
In the field of art, Yaneli Huitzilihuitl was a renowned painter and muralist from the 1930s who drew inspiration from the vibrant colors and symbolism of Nahuatl mythology. Her works adorned numerous public buildings and cultural centers, celebrating the indigenous roots of Mexican identity.
While the name Yaneli may not have widespread recognition today, it carries a rich historical legacy that connects it to the ancient Nahuatl culture and the resilience of the indigenous peoples of Mexico throughout the centuries.
People
Yaneli + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Yaneli 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
Yaneli: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Yaneli?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,673 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Yaneli 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 93,317 US residents.
Is Yaneli a common name?
We classify Yaneli as "Rare". It ranks above 95.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,722 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Yaneli most popular?
The single biggest year for Yaneli was 2009, when 175 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Yaneli is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Yaneli in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,102 people with the name Yaneli, or 1.03 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,506 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 Yaneli 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 Yaneli?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Yaneli appears almost entirely female. Of the 3,100 people counted with this name, 99.7% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Yaneli?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yaneli is Hispanic at 98.3%. The next largest groups are White (0.9%) and Black (0.3%). 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 Yaneli most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Yaneli in the 2020 Census, accounting for 98.3% (3,050 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 Yaneli in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Yaneli a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Yaneli in the SSA data are female. 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 Yaneli still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Yaneli 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 Yaneli 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 share the name Yaneli?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.