Fun Facts About the Name Yoshi
- 310 babies named Yoshi: U.S. records list 310 babies given the name Yoshi from 1880 through 2025. Even 91 girls received the name Yoshi - about 1 girl for every 2 boys.
What Does the Name Yoshi Mean?
Yoshi is a Japanese given name. Its usual base is the Japanese adjective yoshi, the classical form of yoi, "good" (written 良, or in modern kana as よい). Japanese names are normally written in kanji, and the same sound yoshi can be written with characters that carry different senses, so the written meaning depends on the characters a family chooses. Common choices include 吉 "good luck, auspicious," 義 "righteousness, justice," 芳 "fragrant, virtuous," 佳 "excellent, fine," 美 "beautiful," 由 "reason, cause," and 良 "good." The word also works as a short form of longer names that begin with Yoshi-, such as Yoshio, Yoshiko, Yoshihiro, or Yoshitsune, where it keeps the same "good" or "righteous" sense. Yoshi is not related to the Hebrew name Yosef (Joseph) or to the English name Josh, despite the similar sound.
Yoshi Name History & Origins
The element yoshi is old in Japanese. It appears in classical verse, including the eighth-century anthology Man'yōshū, as a word meaning "good," and the character 吉 was used from the Nara period for good fortune. In the medieval period, 義 ("righteousness") became a standard element in warrior names: Minamoto no Yoshitsune (源義経) is a well-known example, and the Ashikaga shoguns, from Ashikaga Yoshiakira and Ashikaga Yoshimitsu in the fourteenth century onward, took names ending in 義. Names ending in -yoshi, such as Hideyoshi (秀吉), were likewise common among samurai and later among ordinary families.
As a name on its own, Yoshi is used for both men and women in Japan, and it is also the standard everyday shortening of longer names beginning with Yoshi-. In English-speaking countries the name is best known through Yoshi, the dinosaur character in Nintendo's Super Mario series, who first appeared in the 1990 game Super Mario World. That association is a modern use of the Japanese word, not the origin of the name.
How Popular is the Name Yoshi?
Yoshi 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 2011. Its best rank was #3,607 in 1914.
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 | #17,672 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2021 | #17,571 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2017 | #15,833 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2016 | #18,779 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2009 | #17,237 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2005 | #19,134 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2003 | #15,742 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1998 | #12,406 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1974 | #10,235 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1973 | #7,428 | 7 | 0.0005% |
| 1924 | #5,054 | 6 | 0.0005% |
| 1922 | #5,776 | 5 | 0.0004% |
| 1921 | #5,858 | 5 | 0.0004% |
| 1919 | #4,242 | 7 | 0.0006% |
| 1916 | #5,156 | 5 | 0.0005% |
| 1914 | #3,607 | 6 | 0.0008% |
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #10,654 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2024 | #8,930 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 2023 | #6,203 | 15 | 0.0009% |
| 2022 | #6,466 | 14 | 0.0008% |
| 2021 | #6,671 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 2020 | #11,970 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2019 | #7,152 | 12 | 0.0007% |
| 2018 | #8,794 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 2017 | #9,660 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 2016 | #12,135 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2015 | #13,988 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2014 | #10,681 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2012 | #7,033 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 2011 | #5,427 | 17 | 0.0009% |
| 2010 | #8,772 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 2009 | #8,293 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 2008 | #7,172 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 2007 | #9,769 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 2005 | #6,621 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 2004 | #11,321 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2003 | #12,721 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2001 | #9,219 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2000 | #12,086 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1923 | #4,895 | 5 | 0.0005% |
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 Yoshi 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.
Dependable, very down-to-earth and well grounded, you are always looking for meaningful work, a career where you can take pride in your work and do the best job you are capable of. Your prime desire is to build protected and secure environment at home and at work. You can be very persuasive in achieving goals and gaining objectives. You can be very detailed and well-organized and possess great organizational skills. At times you may appear too stubborn and overly critical to others, but your practical approach to life and productivity makes you one of the most beneficent members of community.
✦ Yoshi's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Yoshi's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.