Yonason
A masculine name derived from Hebrew meaning "gift of God".
Name Census estimates that about 60 living Americans carry the first name Yonason. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Yonason today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Yonason births was 2017 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Yonason. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Yonason. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
60
~ 1 in 5,712,572 Americans
Peak year
2017
10 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,850
Tracked since 2008
Popularity
Yonason: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Yonason 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 37 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Yonason remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Yonason 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 Yonason during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Yonasons live
Origin
Meaning and history of Yonason
The name Yonason is a Hebrew variant of the name Jonah or Jonathon, derived from the Hebrew name Yonatan. It is a compound name formed from the Hebrew words "yah" meaning "God" and "natan" meaning "to give". The name Yonason therefore means "God has given" or "gift of God".
The name Yonason has its roots in ancient Hebrew culture, with the earliest recorded use of the name dating back to biblical times. The name is found in the Old Testament of the Bible, where it refers to the prophet Jonah, who was famously swallowed by a large fish or whale. The story of Jonah is recounted in the Book of Jonah, which is part of the Nevi'im, or Prophets, section of the Hebrew Bible.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Yonason was Yonason ben Uziel, a renowned scholar and rabbi who lived in the 1st century CE. He is credited with producing the earliest known Targum, or Aramaic translation, of the Prophets section of the Hebrew Bible.
In the 12th century, Yonason the Grammarian, also known as Yonason ben Abraham, was a prominent Jewish scholar and grammarian from Judea. He authored several works on Hebrew grammar and linguistics, including the influential "Sefer Ha-Shorashim" (Book of Roots), which explored the etymology of Hebrew words.
During the Middle Ages, Yonason ben Eleazar was a prominent Talmudic scholar and author of the work "Semak", a compendium of Jewish laws and rituals. He lived in the 13th century and was influential in the Jewish community of France.
In more modern times, one of the most famous individuals with the name Yonason was Yonason Sacks, a renowned British rabbi, philosopher, and scholar who served as the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth from 1991 to 2013. He was widely respected for his work in promoting interfaith dialogue and understanding.
People
Yonason + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Yonason 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
Yonason: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Yonason?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 60 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Yonason 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 5,712,572 US residents.
Is Yonason a common name?
We classify Yonason as "Very Rare". It ranks above 57.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 60 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Yonason most popular?
The single biggest year for Yonason was 2017, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Yonason is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Yonason in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Yonason a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Yonason 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 Yonason still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Yonason 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 Yonason 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How common is the name Yonason?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Yonason on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.