Fun Facts About the Name Yalda
- 131 babies named Yalda: U.S. records list 131 babies given the name Yalda from 1880 through 2025.
What Does the Name Yalda Mean?
Yalda is a Persian feminine name meaning "birth" or "nativity." The Persian word یلدا (yalda) was borrowed from Syriac ܝܠܕܐ (yaldā), a Semitic word for "birth" or "nativity" built on the root y-l-d, "to bear, give birth." In Syriac Christian usage it could refer specifically to the Nativity, or Christmas. In Persian, the literal sense "birth" is the etymological meaning; the name is also tied to Shab-e Yalda, the winter solstice, but that festival association is a cultural development rather than a separate root meaning.
Yalda Name History & Origins
The word entered Persian from Syriac, the Aramaic dialect used by Christians in Mesopotamia and neighboring regions. In Syriac, yaldā means "birth" or "nativity," and it was used for the Feast of the Nativity. Persian speakers adopted the word for the winter solstice celebration, Shab-e Yalda, the longest night of the year. The exact route and period of that transfer are not fully documented, and some popular explanations connect the festival to the birth of Mithra; that link is traditional and debated rather than securely established as the origin of the word.
As a given name, Yalda is used chiefly in Persian-speaking communities. It belongs to the same cultural setting as the solstice festival, but the name itself is not a translation of an older Persian word for the night; it preserves the borrowed Syriac sense of birth or nativity.
How Popular is the Name Yalda?
Yalda has historically been an exceptionally rare given name in the United States, remaining well outside the national mainstream. It saw its highest recorded annual births in 2022. Its best rank was #8,337 in 2025.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #8,337 | 13 | 0.0008% |
| 2024 | #10,204 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 2023 | #8,454 | 13 | 0.0008% |
| 2022 | #8,502 | 13 | 0.0008% |
| 2021 | #13,397 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2017 | #9,899 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 2016 | #18,745 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2015 | #12,947 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 2005 | #16,376 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1997 | #13,682 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1994 | #13,391 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1992 | #13,292 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1991 | #15,421 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1990 | #15,203 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1989 | #12,334 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1987 | #11,291 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1982 | #12,291 | 5 | 0.0003% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
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How the Name Yalda Shapes Your Personality and Life?
You have a strong need for freedom - physical, mental and spiritual. You hate bondage in any form. You have love of beauty and philosophy, and you desire achievement. You are willing to take spiritual matters on faith instead of subjecting them to mental analysis. You are inventive, intuitive and extremely methodical. Since your will is so strong, you are hard to convince. You also dislike advice. You love beauty and philosophy, and you desire achievement. You have a strong need for freedom - physical, mental and spiritual.
You are very intuitive. You have a reservoir of inspired wisdom combined with inherited analytical ability, which could reward you through expressions of spiritual leadership, business analysis, marketing, artistic visions, and scientific research. Operating on spiritual side of your individuality can bring you to the great heights, and drop you off if you neglect your spiritual identity. You are always looking for an opportunity to investigate the unknown, to use and show your mental abilities, to find the purpose and meaning of life. You want to grow wise and to understand people and things. You need privacy to replenish your energy. You have a unique way of thinking, intuitive, reflective, absorbing.
✦ Yalda's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Yalda's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.