Fun Facts About the Name Yale
- More than 1 thousand babies named Yale: U.S. records list 1,416 babies given the name Yale from 1880 through 2025.
What Does the Name Yale Mean?
Yale is a transferred surname used as a given name. The surname is Welsh in origin and habitational: it means "from Yale," a historic district in northeast Wales known in Welsh as Iâl. The English form Yale is an anglicized rendering of the Welsh place name. The ultimate meaning of Iâl is uncertain. A common suggestion is that it contains an old Celtic element meaning "fertile upland," but this gloss is not securely established. The literal sense of the surname is therefore locative - "from Yale" - while any translation of Iâl remains a proposed etymology. Yale is not related to the Hebrew name Yael, despite the similar spelling.
Yale Name History & Origins
The name Yale comes from the Welsh district of Iâl in northeast Wales, in the historic county of Denbighshire. In medieval Wales, Iâl was a commote in the northeast, and the parish of Llanarmon-yn-Iâl preserves the name. English speakers rendered the Welsh name as Yale, and it became a surname in the Welsh border region. The surname was carried to New England by the Yale family. Elihu Yale (1649 - 1721), a merchant and colonial administrator born in Boston, became a benefactor of the Collegiate School of Connecticut. In 1718 the school was renamed Yale College in his honor, and it later became Yale University. The university has made the surname familiar. As a given name, Yale is a transferred use of the surname and is not a traditional Welsh personal name.
How Popular is the Name Yale?
Yale 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 1929. Its best rank was #1,302 in 1916.
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 | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | #14,240 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2020 | #11,954 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2018 | #10,710 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2017 | #10,724 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2016 | #14,114 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2015 | #8,013 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 2014 | #12,048 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2013 | #10,683 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2012 | #8,837 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 2010 | #12,162 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2009 | #9,831 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 2008 | #10,994 | 7 | 0.0003% |
| 2007 | #6,599 | 13 | 0.0006% |
| 2006 | #13,959 | 5 | 0.0002% |
| 2005 | #8,274 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 2004 | #9,907 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2003 | #12,707 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2002 | #10,628 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2001 | #10,517 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2000 | #6,300 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 1999 | #9,875 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1998 | #8,448 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1997 | #5,635 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 1996 | #4,871 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 1995 | #4,505 | 14 | 0.0007% |
| 1994 | #8,774 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1993 | #3,139 | 22 | 0.0011% |
| 1992 | #4,560 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 1991 | #3,630 | 17 | 0.0008% |
| 1990 | #4,989 | 11 | 0.0005% |
| 1989 | #3,444 | 17 | 0.0008% |
| 1988 | #4,441 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 1987 | #4,233 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 1986 | #7,801 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1985 | #5,139 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1984 | #4,960 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1983 | #2,788 | 17 | 0.0009% |
| 1982 | #2,970 | 16 | 0.0009% |
| 1981 | #3,411 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 1980 | #4,487 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 1979 | #3,562 | 12 | 0.0007% |
| 1978 | #5,050 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1977 | #6,846 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1976 | #3,260 | 12 | 0.0008% |
| 1975 | #5,449 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 1974 | #5,996 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1973 | #3,220 | 11 | 0.0007% |
| 1972 | #3,150 | 11 | 0.0007% |
| 1971 | #2,969 | 12 | 0.0007% |
| 1970 | #2,212 | 18 | 0.0010% |
| 1969 | #1,912 | 20 | 0.0011% |
| 1968 | #2,308 | 14 | 0.0008% |
| 1967 | #1,973 | 17 | 0.0010% |
| 1966 | #1,891 | 18 | 0.0010% |
| 1965 | #2,471 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 1964 | #2,202 | 15 | 0.0008% |
| 1963 | #2,199 | 15 | 0.0007% |
| 1962 | #1,756 | 22 | 0.0011% |
| 1961 | #2,238 | 15 | 0.0007% |
| 1960 | #2,117 | 16 | 0.0008% |
| 1959 | #2,657 | 11 | 0.0005% |
| 1958 | #3,028 | 9 | 0.0004% |
| 1957 | #2,494 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 1956 | #2,627 | 11 | 0.0005% |
| 1955 | #2,558 | 11 | 0.0005% |
| 1954 | #2,739 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 1953 | #2,389 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 1952 | #1,802 | 19 | 0.0010% |
| 1951 | #1,597 | 23 | 0.0012% |
| 1950 | #2,437 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 1949 | #2,603 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 1948 | #1,816 | 18 | 0.0010% |
| 1947 | #2,861 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 1946 | #2,687 | 9 | 0.0006% |
| 1945 | #1,770 | 16 | 0.0012% |
| 1944 | #2,465 | 10 | 0.0007% |
| 1943 | #1,832 | 17 | 0.0012% |
| 1942 | #1,627 | 20 | 0.0014% |
| 1941 | #1,820 | 16 | 0.0013% |
| 1940 | #1,893 | 15 | 0.0013% |
| 1939 | #1,711 | 17 | 0.0015% |
| 1938 | #2,323 | 11 | 0.0010% |
| 1937 | #2,678 | 9 | 0.0008% |
| 1936 | #1,800 | 16 | 0.0015% |
| 1935 | #1,927 | 15 | 0.0014% |
| 1934 | #2,562 | 10 | 0.0010% |
| 1933 | #2,541 | 10 | 0.0010% |
| 1932 | #1,993 | 15 | 0.0014% |
| 1931 | #2,001 | 15 | 0.0014% |
| 1930 | #1,692 | 20 | 0.0018% |
| 1929 | #1,338 | 29 | 0.0027% |
| 1928 | #1,645 | 22 | 0.0020% |
| 1927 | #1,645 | 23 | 0.0020% |
| 1926 | #1,844 | 19 | 0.0017% |
| 1925 | #2,189 | 15 | 0.0013% |
| 1924 | #2,226 | 15 | 0.0013% |
| 1923 | #1,500 | 26 | 0.0024% |
| 1922 | #1,694 | 22 | 0.0020% |
| 1921 | #1,474 | 27 | 0.0025% |
| 1920 | #1,884 | 19 | 0.0018% |
| 1919 | #2,382 | 13 | 0.0013% |
| 1918 | #1,903 | 18 | 0.0018% |
| 1917 | #1,526 | 23 | 0.0025% |
| 1916 | #1,302 | 28 | 0.0031% |
| 1915 | #1,876 | 16 | 0.0019% |
| 1914 | #1,387 | 20 | 0.0031% |
| 1913 | #1,440 | 15 | 0.0029% |
| 1912 | #1,744 | 10 | 0.0023% |
| 1908 | #1,370 | 6 | 0.0039% |
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 Yale 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.
✦ Yale's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Yale's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.