Fun Facts About the Name Yittel
- 132 babies named Yittel: U.S. records list 132 babies given the name Yittel from 1880 through 2025.
What Does the Name Yittel Mean?
Yittel is a feminine given name from Yiddish, the everyday language of the Ashkenazi Jews of Central and Eastern Europe. Its literal meaning is not securely known. The name is built with the Yiddish diminutive ending -l, the same suffix that forms familiar versions of women's names in Yiddish (as in Gitl from Gittel or Rivkele from Rivka). The short element before the suffix, Yit- (also written It-), has a disputed origin. One explanation traces it to Middle High German güete, "goodness," which lies behind the Yiddish name Gittel; another connects it to Old French gentil, "noble, gentle," which lies behind the Yiddish names Yente and Yentl. Neither explanation is confirmed, and no Hebrew root has been established, so the name is best described as of uncertain meaning.
Yittel Name History & Origins
Yittel belongs to the large stock of Yiddish personal names that took shape among Ashkenazi Jews in the medieval German lands and then spread through Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine, and the rest of Eastern Europe. Names of this kind were used alongside Hebrew names: a girl was given a Hebrew name for religious purposes, the shem ha-kodesh, and a Yiddish name, called a kinui, by which family and neighbors actually called her. Short forms ending in -l were common as such daily names, and Yittel follows that pattern, which is why the ending carries no separate meaning of its own.
The name is written in Latin letters in several ways, including Yittel and Yitel, depending on the transliteration system used for Yiddish. It continued in use in Yiddish-speaking communities into the twentieth century and is carried on in some Ashkenazi families today. It is a distinct name from the similar-sounding Yentl, which rests on a different base element.
How Popular is the Name Yittel?
Yittel 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 2017. Its best rank was #8,590 in 2018.
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 | #10,892 | 9 | 0.0006% |
| 2024 | #10,210 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 2022 | #15,231 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 2021 | #15,174 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 2020 | #15,017 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 2019 | #13,745 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2018 | #8,590 | 13 | 0.0008% |
| 2017 | #8,761 | 13 | 0.0008% |
| 2016 | #12,837 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 2015 | #10,833 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 2013 | #19,187 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2012 | #16,779 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2011 | #19,499 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2007 | #17,570 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2006 | #17,099 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2005 | #19,125 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1995 | #15,727 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1976 | #9,275 | 6 | 0.0004% |
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 Yittel 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 always looking for a chance to do your own thing, to be your own person, and to have things done your own way.
✦ Yittel's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Yittel's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.