Younis
Masculine · “dove”
Younis is Jonah in Arabic — the prophet swallowed by the fish — and the Hebrew behind it simply means a dove.
How old is the name Younis?
Younis first appears in US birth records in 1999 — 26 years ago. The typical Younis is a kid of about 5 — this name's wave is very recent. About 700 people named Younis are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Younis most popular?
Younis peaked in 2024, reaching #1862 nationally. Today it ranks #2125, 263 places below that high. See the whole 2024 chart.
Where it comes from
From Yonah to Younis
The story of Younis
Jonah runs from a commission, is thrown overboard and swallowed, and then sulks when the city he warned repents — one of the strangest and funniest books in the Hebrew Bible. Sura 10 of the Qur'an is named Yunus. The name is standard across Arabic and South Asian naming and appears in American records in current use.
Meaning
dove
Through Yunus, from the Hebrew Yonah, 'dove'. The Qur'an names a sura for him, one of the few named for a prophet. The Hebrew word is ordinary and the reading undisputed. Younis is one of several English spellings of the Arabic.
How the name formed
- Yonah
- Yunus
- Younis
Related forms: يونس · Yunus · Jonah
Pronouncing Younis
YOO-nis
Two syllables, stress on the first. Arabic Yunus is yoo-NOOS with a fuller second vowel.
Nicknames for Younis
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
- 202486 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1862reached in 2024
- Change vs 2024
- −20.9%68 in 2025, from 86
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.
Younis in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- يونس in Arabic — transliteration
- Yunus in Turkish — related form
- Jonah in English — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: New York, California, Michigan.
Youniss among us
people named Younis are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 25,119 born in 2025 was named Younis
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 Dionne test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Younis's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Dionne climbed just as high around 1971, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Dionne's path sketches the road Younis is walking now.
Younis 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 Younis is headed
Younis looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 25% 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.
Younis beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Younis 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 is named for him.
- Two clean syllables with no pronunciation risk in English.
- Several transliterations are in circulation.
- Jonah is what English speakers will recognize.
- It reads as specifically Muslim.
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Younis
Masculine · #2125 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Youniss 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 Younis are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Younis in 2025?
- Younis ranks #2125 among US boy names in 2025, with 68 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Younis?
- About 1 in every 25,119 US boys born in 2025 was named Younis — 68 in all.
- Will my child share the name Younis with classmates?
- Younis will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Younis
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Ayce#2125 · Kyran#2125 · Makaio#2125 · Younes#2125 · Raziel#2125 · Arvin#2125 · Kyrell#2125 · Von#2125
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Younis? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Younis and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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