Yuna
Of Japanese origin, meaning "rope" or "binding affection."
Name Census estimates that about 2,767 living Americans carry the first name Yuna. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Yuna today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Yuna births was 2024 (231 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Yuna. 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 Yuna with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Yuna is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 11 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
2.8K
~ 1 in 123,872 Americans
Peak year
2024
231 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,074
Tracked since 1983
Census
Yuna in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,291 people with the first name Yuna, which placed it at #6,858 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
#6,858
National first-name rank
People counted
2.3K
2,291 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
72.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Yuna
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yuna is Asian/Pacific Islander at 72.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (11.6%) and White (8.1%). 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 Yuna 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 Yuna at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander72.3% · 1,657
- Two or more races11.6% · 265
- White8.1% · 186
- Hispanic or Latino5.5% · 126
- Black or African American2.2% · 51
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 6
Popularity
Yuna: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Yuna from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,233 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
Yuna 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 Yuna during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Yunas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 24 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Yuna, while Oregon, Indiana, Colorado recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 73 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Yuna
The name Yuna has its origins in the Arabic language and culture. It is derived from the Arabic word "youna," which means "peace" or "tranquility." The name gained popularity in the Middle East during the 7th century CE, with the rise of Islam and the spread of Arabic culture.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Yuna can be found in the book "Kitab al-Aghani" (The Book of Songs), written by Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani in the 10th century CE. The book mentions a renowned singer named Yuna bint al-Husayn, who lived during the Abbasid Caliphate in the 8th century CE.
In the 12th century, a famous Sufi mystic and poet named Yuna al-Misri gained recognition for her spiritual teachings and poetic works. She was born in Egypt and spent her life traveling and spreading the teachings of Sufism.
During the Ottoman Empire, in the 16th century, a prominent scholar and historian named Yuna al-Qudsi made significant contributions to the preservation of Arabic literature and Islamic history. He served as the chief librarian of the renowned Topkapi Palace Library in Istanbul.
In more recent history, Yuna Kim, a South Korean figure skater, won the gold medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. She was born in 1990 and is widely regarded as one of the most accomplished figure skaters of her generation.
Another notable figure with the name Yuna is Yuna Ito, a Japanese singer and songwriter born in 1986. She has released several successful albums and is known for her unique blend of pop and R&B music.
While the name Yuna has its roots in the Arabic language and Islamic culture, it has transcended cultural boundaries and gained popularity in various parts of the world, particularly in Asia and the Middle East. The name continues to be cherished for its beautiful meaning and historical significance.
People
Yuna + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Yuna 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
Yuna: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Yuna?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,767 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Yuna 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 123,872 US residents.
Is Yuna a common name?
We classify Yuna as "Rare". It ranks above 94.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,792 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Yuna most popular?
The single biggest year for Yuna was 2024, when 231 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Yuna is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Yuna in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,291 people with the name Yuna, or 0.76 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,858 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 Yuna 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 Yuna?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Yuna appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,293 people counted with this name, 99.3% 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 Yuna?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yuna is Asian/Pacific Islander at 72.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (11.6%) and White (8.1%). 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 Yuna most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Yuna in the 2020 Census, accounting for 72.3% (1,657 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 Yuna in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Yuna a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Yuna 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 Yuna still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Yuna 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 Yuna 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 are called Yuna?
You can see how many Americans are named Yuna on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.