Youssef
An Arabic masculine given name meaning "he will add" or "prosperous one".
Name Census estimates that about 3,552 living Americans carry the first name Youssef. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Youssef today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Youssef births was 2017 (193 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Youssef. 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 Youssef with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Youssef is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 15 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
3.6K
~ 1 in 96,496 Americans
Peak year
2017
193 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,602
Tracked since 1974
Census
Youssef in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 5,587 people with the first name Youssef, which placed it at #3,652 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
#3,652
National first-name rank
People counted
5.6K
5,587 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
90.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Youssef
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Youssef is White at 90.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.5%) and Hispanic (2.6%). 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 Youssef 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 Youssef at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White90.7% · 5,070
- Two or more races3.5% · 196
- Hispanic or Latino2.6% · 145
- Black or African American2.3% · 129
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 47
Popularity
Youssef: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Youssef from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,582 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Youssef remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Youssef 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 Youssef during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Youssefs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 16 states and territories. New York, California, New Jersey recorded the most babies named Youssef, while Washington, Connecticut, Maryland recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 153 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Youssef
The name Youssef has its origins in the Arabic language and culture. It is derived from the Hebrew name Yosef, which comes from the root word "yasaf," meaning "to add" or "to increase." The name is believed to have been in use since ancient times, dating back to the biblical era.
One of the earliest and most prominent references to the name Youssef is in the Quran, where it is mentioned as the name of the prophet Joseph, son of Jacob. The story of Joseph is recounted in great detail in the Quran, and his name is mentioned numerous times throughout the text.
The name Youssef has been used by many notable figures throughout history. One of the earliest recorded examples is Youssef ibn Nasr al-Nashi, a famous Arabic poet who lived in the 9th century CE. Another notable bearer of the name was Youssef ibn Yahya al-Baladhuri, a renowned historian from the 9th century who wrote extensively about the early Islamic conquests.
In the medieval period, Youssef ibn Ismail al-Sahili was a prominent Moroccan scholar and judge who lived in the 12th century. He was known for his expertise in Islamic jurisprudence and his contributions to the field of Maliki law.
Moving forward, one of the most famous figures in modern Arab history with the name Youssef was Youssef Bey Karam, a Lebanese nationalist and leader who played a pivotal role in the struggle for independence from Ottoman rule in the early 20th century. He was born in 1823 and died in 1889.
Another notable bearer of the name Youssef was Youssef Chahine, an acclaimed Egyptian filmmaker and actor who was a pioneer of Arab cinema. He was born in 1926 and passed away in 2008, leaving behind a rich legacy of films that explored social and political themes in the Arab world.
These are just a few examples of the many notable individuals throughout history who have borne the name Youssef, a name steeped in cultural and religious significance in the Arabic and Islamic traditions.
People
Youssef + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Youssef 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
Youssef: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Youssef?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,552 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Youssef 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 96,496 US residents.
Is Youssef a common name?
We classify Youssef as "Rare". It ranks above 95.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,593 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Youssef most popular?
The single biggest year for Youssef was 2017, when 193 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Youssef is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Youssef in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 5,587 people with the name Youssef, or 1.85 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,652 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 Youssef 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 Youssef?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Youssef appears almost entirely male. Of the 5,589 people counted with this name, 99.8% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Youssef?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Youssef is White at 90.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.5%) and Hispanic (2.6%). 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 Youssef most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Youssef in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.7% (5,070 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 Youssef in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Youssef a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Youssef 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 Youssef still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Youssef 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 Youssef 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 Americans are named Youssef?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.