Yanis
Masculine · “God is gracious”
Yanis is given to both — 674 boys and 134 girls since 1880. See other names given to both
Yanis is the Greek Yannis — John — and the Hebrew behind it says God is gracious.
How old is the name Yanis?
Yanis first appears in US birth records in 1998 — 27 years ago. The typical Yanis is a kid of about 5 — this name's wave is very recent. About 700 people named Yanis are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Yanis most popular?
Yanis peaked in 2021, reaching #2109 nationally. Today it ranks #2539, 430 places below that high. See the whole 2021 chart.
Yanis appears on this list:
Where it comes from
From Yochanan to Yanis
The story of Yanis
Yochanan gave Greek Ioannes and then John, Jean, Juan, Ivan and Yannis across Europe — the most productive name family the continent has. Greek Yannis is among the commonest names in Greece. Yanis is a French-influenced spelling and appears in American records in current use.
Meaning
God is gracious
From the Greek Yannis or Ioannis, from Ioannes and the Hebrew Yochanan, 'the Lord is gracious'. The single-n Yanis spelling is used in French and Breton contexts. The Hebrew is transparent and the chain documented.
How the name formed
- Yochanan
- Ioannes
- Yannis
- Yanis
Related forms: Γιάννης · Yanis · John
Pronouncing Yanis
YAH-nis
Two syllables, stress on the first. Greek Yannis doubles the n audibly.
Nicknames for Yanis
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
- 1998
- Most boys named
- 202168 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2109reached in 2021
- Change vs 2024
- −8.8%52 in 2025, from 57
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.
Yanis in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Γιάννης in Greek — related form
- Yanis in French — same name
- John in English — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: New York, Texas, Florida. INSEE rounds every published count to the nearest five for statistical confidentiality; the ranks are calculated from the exact figures. International figures from INSEE. Sources
Yaniss among us
people named Yanis are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 32,848 born in 2025 was named Yanis
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Yanis
- #2539
- Yanis on the 2025 chart
- #849
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Yanis went to 52 boys in 2025, but Yannis is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 79, which makes it the 849th most-given boys’ name of the year — 1,690 places above the chart.
- Yanis52
- Yannis27
About 1 boy in 21,621 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 32,848 for Yanis itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Davide test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Yanis's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Davide climbed just as high around 1968, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Davide's path sketches the road Yanis is walking now.
Yanis 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 Yanis is headed
Yanis 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.
Yanis beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Yanis in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It belongs to the most productive name family in European history.
- The God-is-gracious meaning is transparent and undisputed.
- Yan is available as a short form with real use.
- Yannis with two n's is the Greek spelling.
- English speakers will read the Y as a J.
- It reads as specifically Greek or French.
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What they receive
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Yanis
Masculine · #2539 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Yaniss are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Yanis are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Yanis?
- Yanis is the most-used spelling in US records — 52 of the 79 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Yannis.
- How popular is the name Yanis in 2025?
- Yanis ranks #2539 among US boy names in 2025, with 52 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Yanis?
- About 1 in every 32,848 US boys born in 2025 was named Yanis — 52 in all.
- Will my child share the name Yanis with classmates?
- Yanis will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Yanis
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Ebenezer#2539 · Luigi#2539 · Mazen#2539 · Ziyad#2539 · Mercer#2539 · Ramy#2539 · Konnor#2539 · Ruston#2539
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Yanis? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration; international figures from national statistics agencies. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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