Yena
Of Hebrew origin, meaning "He has shown favor" or "He has bestowed grace."
Name Census estimates that about 293 living Americans carry the first name Yena. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Yena today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Yena births was 2013 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Yena. 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 Yena with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
293
~ 1 in 1,169,810 Americans
Peak year
2013
20 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,551
Tracked since 1998
Census
Yena in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 488 people with the first name Yena, which placed it at #20,967 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
#20,967
National first-name rank
People counted
488
488 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
84.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Yena
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yena is Asian/Pacific Islander at 84.2%. The next largest groups are Black (5.9%) and Two or More Races (3.9%). 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 Yena 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 Yena at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander84.2% · 411
- Black or African American5.9% · 29
- Two or more races3.9% · 19
- White3.5% · 17
- Hispanic or Latino2.0% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 2
Popularity
Yena: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Yena from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 136 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Yena remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Yena 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 Yena during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Yenas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Yena
The name Yena has its origins in the ancient Sanskrit language of India, dating back to around the 3rd century BCE. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "yen," which means "to go" or "to move." This suggests that the name may have been associated with travelers, explorers, or those who were constantly on the move.
In the ancient Hindu texts known as the Vedas, there are references to a sage named Yena who was known for his wisdom and spiritual teachings. It is possible that the name gained popularity due to this influential figure from ancient Indian history.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Yena can be found in the Mahabharata, a Sanskrit epic dating back to around the 8th century BCE. In this text, Yena is mentioned as the name of a warrior who fought alongside the Pandava princes in the great battle of Kurukshetra.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Yena. One of the most famous was Yena Savari, a 16th-century Indian saint and poet who was revered for his devotional writings and spiritual teachings. His birth year is unknown, but he is believed to have lived during the latter half of the 16th century.
Another prominent figure was Yena Datta, a 19th-century Indian scholar and linguist who made significant contributions to the study of Sanskrit and Pali languages. He was born in 1824 and passed away in 1909.
In the realm of literature, there was Yena Bharati, a 20th-century Indian writer and poet who was known for her works exploring themes of feminism and social justice. She was born in 1920 and died in 2005.
Moving to the world of sports, Yena Patel was a notable Indian cricketer who played for the national team in the 1970s and 1980s. He was born in 1952 and played his last international match in 1986.
Finally, in the field of politics, there was Yena Mukherjee, an Indian politician and activist who served as a member of parliament in the late 20th century. She was born in 1939 and actively participated in various social and political movements throughout her career.
These are just a few examples of individuals who have borne the name Yena throughout history, highlighting its rich cultural heritage and significance across various fields and time periods.
People
Yena + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Yena 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
Yena: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Yena?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 293 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Yena 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 1,169,810 US residents.
Is Yena a common name?
We classify Yena as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 296 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Yena most popular?
The single biggest year for Yena was 2013, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Yena 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 Yena in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 488 people with the name Yena, or 0.16 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,967 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 Yena 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 Yena?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Yena appears almost entirely female. Of the 488 people counted with this name, 99.2% 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 Yena?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yena is Asian/Pacific Islander at 84.2%. The next largest groups are Black (5.9%) and Two or More Races (3.9%). 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 Yena most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Yena in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.2% (411 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 Yena in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Yena a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Yena 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 Yena still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Yena 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 Yena 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 Yena as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Yena on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.