Yerik
An Arabic masculine name meaning "strong and brave warrior".
Name Census estimates that about 1,259 living Americans carry the first name Yerik. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Yerik today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Yerik births was 2011 (128 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Yerik. 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
- • Yerik is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 10 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.3K
~ 1 in 272,243 Americans
Peak year
2011
128 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,775
Tracked since 2004
Census
Yerik in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 632 people with the first name Yerik, which placed it at #17,453 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
#17,453
National first-name rank
People counted
632
632 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
92.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Yerik
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yerik is Hispanic at 92.1%. The next largest groups are White (4.9%) and Black (2.1%). 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 Yerik 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 Yerik at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino92.1% · 582
- White4.9% · 31
- Black or African American2.1% · 13
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 5
- Two or more races0.2% · 1
Popularity
Yerik: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Yerik 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 679 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Yerik remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Yerik 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 Yerik during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Yeriks live
The SSA's state-level files cover 12 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Yerik, while South Carolina, Maryland, Massachusetts recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 54 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Yerik
The given name Yerik has its origins in the Kazakh language, spoken primarily in Kazakhstan and parts of Central Asia. It is derived from the ancient Turkic root word "yer," meaning "earth" or "land." This name likely emerged during the nomadic era of the Turkic peoples, when a connection to the land and territory held great significance.
In the historical context of the Kazakh culture, names often carried symbolic meanings related to nature, strength, or aspirations for the child. Yerik may have been bestowed upon individuals with the hope that they would have a strong bond with their homeland and a deep respect for the earth's resources.
While there are no widely known ancient texts or religious scriptures that specifically mention the name Yerik, it is believed to have been in use among the Kazakh and other Turkic communities for centuries. The earliest recorded instances of the name are found in genealogical records and historical documents from the 16th and 17th centuries in Central Asia.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the name Yerik was Yerik Dauletov, a prominent Kazakh poet and writer who lived in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His works celebrated the beauty of the Kazakh steppes and the resilience of the nomadic lifestyle.
Another historical figure bearing the name was Yerik Ubaidullayev (1897-1937), a Kazakh writer and educator who played a significant role in the development of Kazakh literature and the promotion of education during the early Soviet era.
In the realm of politics, Yerik Asanbaev (1920-1985) was a Kazakh statesman and diplomat who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic in the 1960s and 1970s.
Yerik Shalabayev (1924-2005) was a prominent Kazakh artist and sculptor, renowned for his monumental public artworks that captured the spirit and traditions of the Kazakh people.
Yerik Zhakypbekov (1939-2022) was a celebrated Kazakh film director and screenwriter, whose works explored themes of national identity, cultural heritage, and the complexities of modern Kazakh society.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who carried the name Yerik, reflecting its deep roots in the Kazakh culture and its enduring presence across various fields and eras.
People
Yerik + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Yerik 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
Yerik: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Yerik?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,259 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Yerik 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 272,243 US residents.
Is Yerik a common name?
We classify Yerik as "Rare". It ranks above 91.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,269 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Yerik most popular?
The single biggest year for Yerik was 2011, when 128 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Yerik is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Yerik in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 632 people with the name Yerik, or 0.21 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,453 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 Yerik 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 Yerik?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Yerik leans strongly male. 629 people counted with this name were male (98.6%), compared with 9 female bearers (1.4%). 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 Yerik?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yerik is Hispanic at 92.1%. The next largest groups are White (4.9%) and Black (2.1%). 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 Yerik most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Yerik in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.1% (582 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 Yerik in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Yerik a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Yerik 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 Yerik still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Yerik 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 Yerik 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 Yerik as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.