unisex name
Yael
- Origin Hebrew
- Gender Unisex
- Letters 4
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 20,685
the United States
#817
2025 births
Yael is a unisex name. It is given to both girls and boys — about 48% of recorded births with this name are girls. In 2025 it was given to 431 babies in the United States, ranking #817. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
- Yael is a name of Hebrew origin.
- Peaked in 2023, when 472 babies were given the name.
- It has been rising over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 7,692 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1954.
Yael over time
Births per decade in France, 1960s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1960s | 285 |
| 1970s | 945 |
| 1980s | 615 |
| 1990s | 900 |
| 2000s | 2,825 |
| 2010s | 3,115 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 1,505 |
How popular is Yael?
In 2025, Yael was given to 431 babies in the United States, ranking #817 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Yael is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
How Yael is spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Yaël | Yaël is Yael written with a diaeresis in France, and the spelling parents there overwhelmingly choose: it ranks #543 in France, against #2,163 for Yael. | 4,005 |
Names that peaked alongside Yael
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Yael also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Yael over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Yael in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
- Other forms
- Forms we hold no single language for — some are used across several, some are simply spelled differently.
- Jael
Sibling names for Yael
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Yael — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Yael
How popular is the name Yael?
In 2025, Yael was given to 431 babies in the United States, ranking #817 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Is Yael a girl's or a boy's name?
Yael is used for both girls and boys. About 48% of recorded births with this name are girls.
When was Yael most popular?
Yael peaked in 2023, when 472 babies were given the name. It has been rising over the past decade.
Is Yael a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Yael currently ranks #543 in the United States. It has been rising over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.