Yael
Feminine · “mountain goat”
Yael is given to both — 4,501 girls and 5,207 boys since 1880. See Yael as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Yael is a mountain goat — the ibex of the Judean desert — and it belongs to a woman in Judges who killed an enemy general with a tent peg while he slept.
How old is the name Yael?
Yael first appears in US birth records in 1954 — 71 years ago. The typical Yael alive today was born around 2006, making them about 19 years old. About 4,400 people named Yael are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Yael most popular?
Yael peaked in 2022, reaching #1381 nationally. Today it ranks #1631, 250 places below that high. See the whole 2022 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From ya'el to Yael
The story of Yael
Yael gives Sisera shelter, milk and a blanket, then drives a tent peg through his temple as he sleeps — and the Song of Deborah, one of the oldest passages in the Bible, calls her most blessed of women for it. The name is common in Israel and appears in American records rising through the 2000s. It is in current use.
Meaning
mountain goat, ibex
From the Hebrew ya'el, the Nubian ibex — a wild goat that lives on the cliffs of the Judean desert and the Negev. The word is ordinary Hebrew and the meaning undisputed. Ein Gedi's ibex are the same animal the name refers to.
How the name formed
- ya'el
- Yael
Related forms: יעל · Jael · Yael
Pronouncing Yael
yah-EL
Two syllables, stress on the second. Hebrew has an ayin in the middle that English drops entirely.
Nicknames for Yael
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1954
- Most girls named
- 2022166 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1381reached in 2022
- Change vs 2024
- −3.8%127 in 2025, from 132
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Yael in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- יעל in Hebrew — transliteration
- Jael in English — spelling variant
- Yael in Spanish — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: New York, California, New Jersey.
Yaels among us
people named Yael are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 12,656 born in 2025 was named Yael
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Ronisha test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Yael's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Ronisha climbed just as high around 1992, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Ronisha's path sketches the road Yael is walking now.
Yael sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Yael is headed
Yael should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Yael beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Yael in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The ibex meaning is concrete and the animal is real and specific.
- One of the most startling narratives in the Hebrew Bible belongs to her.
- The end stress gives it a strong rhythm against a front-stressed surname.
- The story attached to it is violent, which some families will weigh.
- Jael is the older English spelling and is said differently.
- English speakers will need the stress explained.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Yael
Feminine · #1631 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Yaels are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 4,400 people named Yael are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Yael in 2025?
- Yael ranks #1631 among US girl names in 2025, with 127 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Yael?
- About 1 in every 12,656 US girls born in 2025 was named Yael — 127 in all.
- Will my child share the name Yael with classmates?
- Yael will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Yael
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Kenley#1631 · Itzayana#1631 · Brisa#1631 · Irina#1631 · Danica#1631 · Elanor#1631 · Mika#1631 · Arlene#1631
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Yael? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Yael and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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