Yousof
An Arabic name meaning "Joseph", biblical name derived from a root meaning "to add".
Name Census estimates that about 94 living Americans carry the first name Yousof. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Yousof today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Yousof births was 2016 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Yousof. 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 Yousof with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Yousof. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
94
~ 1 in 3,646,323 Americans
Peak year
2016
10 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2019 SSA rank
#8,861
Tracked since 2002
Popularity
Yousof: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Yousof from the 2000s through to the 2010s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 75 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Yousof 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 Yousof during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Yousof
The name Yousof is derived from the Arabic name Yusuf, which has its origins in the Semitic root word 'y-s-f' meaning 'to add' or 'to increase'. The name Yusuf can be traced back to the biblical figure Joseph, son of Jacob, whose story is recounted in the Book of Genesis and the Quran.
In the Bible, Joseph is described as a dreamer and interpreter of dreams, who rose to become a powerful figure in Egypt after being sold into slavery by his brothers. The Quran also narrates the story of Yusuf, highlighting his patience, faith, and moral uprightness in the face of adversity.
The earliest recorded examples of the name Yousof can be found in ancient Arabic texts and inscriptions, dating back to the 7th century CE. One of the most famous historical figures with this name was Yousof ibn Tashfin, the Almoravid ruler and military leader who founded the city of Marrakesh in Morocco in the 11th century.
Another notable figure was Yousof Razi, a Persian physician, alchemist, and philosopher who lived in the 9th and 10th centuries CE. He made significant contributions to the fields of medicine, chemistry, and philosophy, and is considered one of the most influential scholars of the Islamic Golden Age.
In the realm of literature, Yousof ibn al-Hajjaj, a 9th-century Arab poet and writer, is known for his works on grammar and poetic theory. His treatise on Arabic prosody, "Kitab al-Arud," is considered a seminal work in the study of Arabic poetry.
Yousof Khurasani, a 12th-century Persian poet and mystic, was renowned for his spiritual poetry and his influential work "Mathnavi-ye Manavi," which explores themes of love, mysticism, and the human condition.
In the modern era, Yousof Karsh, a Armenian-Canadian portrait photographer born in 1908, gained international acclaim for his iconic photographs of notable figures such as Winston Churchill, Albert Einstein, and Audrey Hepburn.
People
Yousof + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Yousof 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
Yousof: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Yousof?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 94 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Yousof 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 3,646,323 US residents.
Is Yousof a common name?
We classify Yousof as "Very Rare". It ranks above 63.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 95 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Yousof most popular?
The single biggest year for Yousof was 2016, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Yousof is about 13 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 Yousof in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Yousof a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Yousof 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 Yousof still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Yousof 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 Yousof 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 many Americans are named Yousof?
See how many people have the name Yousof on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.