boy's name
Yves
EEV
- Origin French
- Gender Boy
- Syllables 1
- Letters 4
- Popularity Rare
- Births on record 231,353
Yves is a boy's name from a Germanic word for the yew tree, the wood the longbow was made from. It is the source of both Yvette and Yvonne, which appear elsewhere in these pages, and it charts in two markets.
- Yves is a name of French origin.
- Peaked in France in 1947, when 6,420 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade in France.
- Today about 1 in 58,952 babies in France is given this name.
- First appears in birth records in 1900.
- 1 syllable, with the stress on syllable 1.
Yves over time
Births per decade in France, 1900s 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 |
|---|---|
| 1900s | 9,045 |
| 1910s | 11,220 |
| 1920s | 25,300 |
| 1930s | 37,220 |
| 1940s | 46,685 |
| 1950s | 55,750 |
| 1960s | 31,045 |
| 1970s | 8,115 |
| 1980s | 3,310 |
| 1990s | 1,130 |
| 2000s | 465 |
| 2010s | 210 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 75 |
What Yves means
Yves means yew, or of the yew tree. The Germanic element names the wood that bows were made from, so the association is martial as much as botanical.
Where Yves comes from
Yves is the French form of a Germanic name built on iv, a yew — the tree whose wood made the longbow, which is why the element runs through Germanic naming with a fighting sense rather than a pastoral one. Yew is also the churchyard tree across Britain and Brittany, planted for reasons long argued over. Saint Yves of Kermartin, a thirteenth-century Breton lawyer who took the cases of the poor without charge, is patron saint of lawyers and the reason the name saturated Brittany. Yves Saint Laurent carried it into the twentieth century.
Yves in use
Yves peaked in France in 1947, when 6,420 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It now charts in two of the seven markets we track — 3037th in France on 10 births and 5567th in the United States — across 231,353 lifetime births. Its two diminutives Yvette and Yvonne, both written up separately, each hold more recorded births than the source name does.
How popular is Yves?
In 2025, Yves was given to 10 babies in France. It is a rare choice.
Where Yves is used
French counts are rounded to the nearest five and nothing below five is published, so these figures show the shape of the name's use rather than an exact tally. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Yves
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Yves also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Yves over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Yves 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.
Sibling names for Yves
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Yves — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Yves
What does the name Yves mean?
Yew — the Germanic iv, naming the wood the longbow was made from.
How do you pronounce Yves?
EEV, one syllable.
Are Yvette and Yvonne related?
Yes, both are French diminutives of Yves — and each holds more recorded births than Yves itself.
How popular is Yves?
3037th in France, down from a 1947 peak of 6,420 births.
Is Yves a girl's or a boy's name?
Yves is given almost entirely to boys in birth records.
How many syllables are in Yves?
Yves has 1 syllable.
Is Yves a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Yves currently ranks #3,037 in France. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.