Younes
Masculine · “dove”
Younes is Jonah in Arabic and French transliteration — the prophet swallowed by the fish — and the Hebrew means a dove.
How old is the name Younes?
Younes first appears in US birth records in 1999 — 26 years ago. The typical Younes is a kid of about 6 — this name's wave is very recent. About 600 people named Younes are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Younes most popular?
Younes peaked in 2025, reaching #2125 nationally. Today it ranks #2125, exactly where it peaked. See the whole 2025 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Yonah to Younes
The story of Younes
The book of Jonah has a prophet who flees his commission, is swallowed, delivers a five-word sermon and then complains that it worked. The Qur'an names a sura for him. Younes is the standard French-influenced spelling used across the Maghreb and appears in American records in current use.
Meaning
dove
Through Yunus, from the Hebrew Yonah, 'dove'. The ou spelling follows French orthography, common in North African usage. Sura 10 of the Qur'an is named Yunus. The Hebrew word is ordinary and the reading undisputed.
How the name formed
- Yonah
- Yunus
- Younes
Related forms: يونس · Younis · Yunus
Pronouncing Younes
YOO-nes
Two syllables, stress on the first. The ou follows French spelling for the oo sound.
Nicknames for Younes
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
- 1999
- Most boys named
- 202568 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2125reached in 2025
- Change vs 2024
- +1.5%68 in 2025, from 67
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.
Younes in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- يونس in Arabic — transliteration
- Younis in English — spelling variant
- Yunus in Turkish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: New York, California, Illinois.
Youness among us
people named Younes are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 25,119 born in 2025 was named Younes
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 Shann test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Younes's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Shann climbed just as high around 1970, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Shann's path sketches the road Younes is walking now.
Younes 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 Younes is headed
Younes looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 35% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds.
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.
Younes beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Younes in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The dove meaning is transparent and undisputed.
- A whole Qur'anic sura carries the name.
- Two clean syllables with no pronunciation risk in English.
- At least three transliterations are in common use.
- The French ou spelling will confuse English speakers.
- It reads as specifically North African.
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Younes
Masculine · #2125 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Youness 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 Younes are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Younes in 2025?
- Younes ranks #2125 among US boy names in 2025, with 68 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Younes?
- About 1 in every 25,119 US boys born in 2025 was named Younes — 68 in all.
- Will my child share the name Younes with classmates?
- Younes will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Younes
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Ayce#2125 · Kyran#2125 · Makaio#2125 · Younis#2125 · Raziel#2125 · Arvin#2125 · Kyrell#2125 · Von#2125
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Younes? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Younes and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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