Yer
Feminine
Yer is given to both — 572 girls and 142 boys since 1880. See other names given to both
Yer is a one-syllable name, one of the shortest in the American record, carried mostly by girls in Hmong American families. The same three letters mean place or ground in Turkish, and in English they are the way writers spell a dialect your.
How old is the name Yer?
Yer first appears in US birth records in 1980 — 45 years ago. The typical Yer alive today was born around 1990, making them about 35 years old. About 600 people named Yer are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Yer most popular?
Yer peaked in 1988, reaching #2274 nationally. See the whole 1988 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Yer
Hmong families brought Yer to America, and it became one of the names most recognizable to Hmong ears in Minnesota, Wisconsin and California. The letters had other lives already. In Turkish, yer is the ground under your feet, the place where you stand. In English, writers have long spelled a quick, dialect your as yer, in novels and in comic strips. Yer carries none of that into the name itself; it is short, clear and complete, a single syllable that is easy to call across a room.
Meaningnot established
Not established
Yer is a familiar given name among Hmong Americans, but its meaning in Hmong is not documented in the sources available here. The Turkish word yer, place or earth, is unrelated.
Pronouncing Yer
YUR
One syllable. Hmong families may give the vowel a slightly different color than English speakers do.
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
- 1980
- Most girls named
- 198849 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2274reached in 1988
- Change vs 2001
- −16.7%5 in 2002, from 6
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.
Yers among us
people named Yer are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Yer sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- It is as short and simple as a name can be.
- It is widely recognized in Hmong American communities.
- English speakers may hear it as the dialect word for your and make the joke.
- Most children given it are girls; a boy named Yer will usually be taken for a girl by anyone who knows the name.
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Yer
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Yers are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Yer are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Yer in 2025?
- Yer is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Yer with classmates?
- Yer will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More Y names
The most-given names starting with Y, all years combined.
Yvonne#2051 · Yolanda#3211 · Yvette#1622 · Yesenia#1896 · Yasmin#955 · Yasmine#1183 · Yaretzi#670 · Yadira#3832
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Yer? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Yer and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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