# Yale (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/yale/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname transferred from the place name.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | Welsh |
| Type | place, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 2,402 |
| US rank (2010) | 12,830 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 128,537 people |
| Change since 2000 | +2.4% (2,345 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /jeɪl/, 1 syllable |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

Ultimately borrowed from Welsh Iâl, from iâl (“clearing, cultivated upland”). The surname is habitational. The university is named for Elihu Yale, a notable early benefactor.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Yale in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 92% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 4.0% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 1.4% |
| Two or more races | 1.6% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Yale in the United States.

## People named Yale

- Linus Yale, American mechanical engineer (1821–1868)
- William H. Yale, American politician (1831–1917)
- Caroline Yale, American specialized educator (1848–1933)

## Similar surnames

Yule, Yowell, Yelle, Yell.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.