# Yahya (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/yahya/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | Arabic |
| Meaning | not recorded |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 4,582 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 4,576 / 6 (0% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 6,383, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Arabic يَحْيَى (yaḥyā), equivalent to John in the Qur'an.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 6 | 16,664 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 130 | 1,317 |
| 2012 | 158 | 1,160 |
| 2013 | 173 | 1,083 |
| 2014 | 167 | 1,142 |
| 2015 | 211 | 982 |
| 2016 | 224 | 938 |
| 2017 | 230 | 922 |
| 2018 | 202 | 1,022 |
| 2019 | 226 | 952 |
| 2020 | 210 | 1,006 |
| 2021 | 195 | 1,087 |
| 2022 | 243 | 942 |
| 2023 | 265 | 881 |
| 2024 | 379 | 707 |
| 2025 | 455 | 616 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 188 | 257 |
| 2012 | 241 | 219 |
| 2013 | 234 | 222 |
| 2014 | 292 | 193 |
| 2015 | 279 | 209 |
| 2016 | 333 | 172 |
| 2017 | 322 | 171 |
| 2018 | 312 | 173 |
| 2019 | 321 | 167 |
| 2020 | 359 | 151 |
| 2021 | 377 | 152 |
| 2022 | 386 | 142 |
| 2023 | 425 | 126 |
| 2024 | 583 | 93 |
| 2025 | 625 | 81 |

## People named Yahya

- Yahya Jammeh, 2nd President of the Gambia
- Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, American actor
- Yahya Jabrane, association football player
- Yahya Hassan, Danish poet and writer
- Yahya ibn Muhammad, Emir of Morocco from 849 to 863
- Yahya ibn Khalid, Abbasid vizier and provincial governor (died c.806)
- Yahya, Almohad Caliph, Almohad caliph
- Yahya ibn Ali ibn Hammud al-Mu'tali, Caliph of Cordoba
- Yahya ibn Idris ibn Umar, Emir of Morocco from 905 to 922
- Yahya ibn Al-Qassim, Emir of Morocco (died 905)
- Yahya ibn Yahya, Emir of Morocco from 863 to 866
- Yahya ibn Mahmud al-Wasiti, 13th-century Iraqi-Arab painter and calligrapher

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.