Yovana
A feminine given name of Greek origin meaning "God is gracious".
Name Census estimates that about 460 living Americans carry the first name Yovana. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Yovana today is around 28 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Yovana births was 2001 (61 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Yovana. 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 Yovana with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
460
~ 1 in 745,118 Americans
Peak year
2001
61 babies that year
Average age
28
years old
2018 SSA rank
#13,742
Tracked since 1975
Census
Yovana in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 793 people with the first name Yovana, which placed it at #14,753 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
#14,753
National first-name rank
People counted
793
793 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
96.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Yovana
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yovana is Hispanic at 96.2%. The next largest groups are White (3.3%) and Black (0.4%). 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 Yovana 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 Yovana at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino96.2% · 763
- White3.3% · 26
- Black or African American0.4% · 3
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.1% · 1
Popularity
Yovana: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Yovana from the 1970s through to the 2010s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 215 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Yovana 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 Yovana during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Yovanas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Yovana, while Florida, Texas, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 38 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Yovana
The name Yovana has its roots in Sanskrit, an ancient Indian language that dates back to the 2nd millennium BCE. It is a feminine name derived from the word "yuvana," which means "youth" or "young." This suggests that the name was originally associated with youthfulness, vigor, and the prime of life.
In Hinduism, the name Yovana is sometimes linked to the goddess Parvati, who is revered as the consort of Lord Shiva and the embodiment of feminine energy and power. The name may have been bestowed upon young girls as a way to invoke the blessings of this divine figure and the qualities she represents, such as grace, beauty, and strength.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Yovana can be found in the ancient Indian epic, the Mahabharata, which is believed to have been composed between the 8th and 4th centuries BCE. In this text, Yovana is mentioned as the name of a minor character, though the details surrounding this individual are scarce.
Throughout the centuries, several notable individuals have borne the name Yovana. One such person was Yovana Maharani (1585-1619), a queen of the Maratha Empire in India who played a significant role in the expansion of her kingdom's territories during the 17th century.
Another historical figure with the name Yovana was Yovana Bhatta (c. 1100 CE), a renowned Indian mathematician and astrologer who made significant contributions to the study of astronomy and the development of mathematical models for planetary motion.
In the realm of literature, Yovana Devi (1900-1975) was a celebrated Bengali poet and writer from India who is remembered for her lyrical and evocative works that explored themes of love, nature, and spirituality.
Moving to the field of dance, Yovana Ramaiya (1938-2022) was a revered Indian classical dancer and choreographer who played a pivotal role in preserving and promoting the Kathak dance form, which has its roots in the northern regions of India.
Lastly, Yovana Mendoza (born 1987) is a contemporary Mexican-American artist and social media influencer known for her vibrant and colorful paintings that celebrate diverse cultures and promote body positivity.
People
Yovana + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Yovana 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
Yovana: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Yovana?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 460 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Yovana 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 745,118 US residents.
Is Yovana a common name?
We classify Yovana as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 474 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Yovana most popular?
The single biggest year for Yovana was 2001, when 61 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Yovana is about 28 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Yovana in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 793 people with the name Yovana, or 0.26 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,753 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 Yovana 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 Yovana?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Yovana appears almost entirely female. Of the 801 people counted with this name, 99.5% 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 Yovana?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yovana is Hispanic at 96.2%. The next largest groups are White (3.3%) and Black (0.4%). 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 Yovana most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Yovana in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.2% (763 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 Yovana in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Yovana a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Yovana 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 Yovana still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Yovana 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 Yovana 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 common is the name Yovana?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.