Yobani
Masculine · “Hebrew Yochanan”
John is probably the most widely borne man's name in human history. Ian, Sean, Evan, Juan, Jean, Jan, Hans, Giovanni, Ivan, Janos, Yahya, Jovan and Yobani are all the same name, and that is a partial list.
How old is the name Yobani?
Yobani first appears in US birth records in 1983 — 42 years ago. The typical Yobani alive today was born around 2005, making them about 20 years old. About 800 people named Yobani are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Yobani most popular?
Yobani peaked in 1996, reaching #2299 nationally. Today it ranks #9714, 7,415 places below that high. See the whole 1996 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Yochanan to Yobani
The story of Yobani
The reason for the spread is two New Testament figures, the Baptist and the Evangelist, whose combined cult made the name universal in Christian Europe by the middle ages; in some English parishes of the fourteenth century a quarter of all men were called John. Every language reshaped it: English John and Jack, Scots Ian, Irish Sean, Welsh Ieuan and Evan, French Jean, Spanish Juan, Portuguese Joao, Italian Giovanni and Gianni, German Johann and Hans, Dutch Jan, Scandinavian Jens and Jon, Polish Jan, Hungarian Janos, Russian Ivan, Greek Ioannis and Yannis, Arabic Yahya, Georgian Vano, Finnish Juhani. The forms are frequently unrecognizable to each other, so Sean, Hans, Ivan and Juan can sit in one room without anyone realizing they share a name. Latin American Spanish adds Yobani, Jovani and Geovanny to the list.
Meaning
Hebrew Yochanan, Yah is gracious
Yobani is a Central American form of Giovanni or Jovani, from Latin Johannes and Hebrew Yochanan, Yah is gracious. Spanish writes the initial sound as Y and the v as b, since the two are the same sound in Spanish. The peak is 1996.
How the name formed
- Yochanan
- Johannes
- Giovanni
- Yobani
Related forms: Jovani · Giovanni · Juan
Pronouncing Yobani
yoh-BAH-nee
Three syllables, stress on the second. Spanish makes no distinction between b and v, which is why the same name appears as Yobani and Yovani.
Nicknames for Yobani
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
- 1983
- Most boys named
- 200850 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2299reached in 1996
- Change vs 2024
- +40.0%7 in 2025, from 5
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.
Yobani in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Jovani in Spanish — spelling variant
- Giovanni in Italian — same name
- Juan in Spanish — related form
Yobanis among us
people named Yobani are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 244,011 born in 2025 was named Yobani
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 Kurk test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Yobani's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Kurk climbed just as high around 1963, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Kurk's path sketches the road Yobani is walking now.
Yobani 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
Yobani beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Yobani in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Three syllables with an even, open rhythm.
- Giovanni and Juan are both available as related forms.
- The Spanish pronunciation is completely regular.
- Yovani, Jovani and Geovanny all compete as spellings.
- English readers will not connect it to John.
- The 1996 peak dates it to a narrow window.
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What they receive
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Yobani
Masculine · #9714 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Yobanis are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 800 people named Yobani are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Yobani in 2025?
- Yobani ranks #9714 among US boy names in 2025, with 7 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Yobani?
- About 1 in every 244,011 US boys born in 2025 was named Yobani — 7 in all.
- Will my child share the name Yobani with classmates?
- Yobani will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Yobani
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Vern#9714 · Abrahm#9714 · Sid#9714 · Hartwell#9714 · Kwan#9714 · Adrean#9714 · Chancey#9714 · Bob#9714
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Yobani? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Yobani and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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