Yui
Feminine · “to tie”
Yui is one of the most-used girls' names in Japan, and it is a good illustration of how Japanese naming works: the sound comes first, and the characters written for it are chosen afterwards from several possibilities, each giving a different meaning. Its American record is small and recent, peaking in 2016.
How old is the name Yui?
Yui first appears in US birth records in 1989 — 36 years ago. The typical Yui alive today was born around 2012, making them about 13 years old. About 600 people named Yui are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Yui most popular?
Yui peaked in 2016, reaching #4423 nationally. Today it ranks #5917, 1,494 places below that high. See the whole 2016 chart.
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Yui
Japanese naming allows an unusual amount of freedom: parents choose a sound and then select characters that produce it, within a legally defined list, and the combination can be conventional or entirely new. That makes meaning a family decision rather than an inherited fact. Yui rose to the top of the Japanese girls' name rankings in the 2000s and has stayed high, part of a broader shift towards short, soft, two-syllable names. In America it appears in small numbers with Japanese and Japanese-American families, and it is helped by being easy for English speakers to say once the vowels are explained.
Meaningscholars disagree
'to tie, to bind' in the most common writing; other characters give other senses
Japanese names are written in kanji, and the same sound can be written many ways. Yui is most often written with a character meaning to tie or bind, sometimes combined with one for clothing, giving a sense connected to weaving or to bonds between people. Other writings use characters for 'only' or 'gentleness'. So the meaning is not a property of the name but of the writing a family chose, and two girls called Yui may carry quite different senses.
Pronouncing Yui
YOO-ee
Two syllables in Japanese, both short and evenly weighted, with the u as in food and the i as in machine. English speakers often produce YWEE, collapsing the vowels into one syllable, which is the main difficulty the name presents.
Nicknames for Yui
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
- 1989
- Most girls named
- 201632 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #4423reached in 2016
- Change vs 2024
- −9.1%20 in 2025, from 22
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.
Yui in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Yui in Japanese — same name
- Yuina in Japanese — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California.
Yuis among us
people named Yui are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 80,363 born in 2025 was named Yui
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 Kanita test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Yui's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Kanita climbed just as high around 1977, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Kanita's path sketches the road Yui is walking now.
Yui 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
Yui beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Yui in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Three letters, and easy to say once the two vowels are separated.
- It is among the most popular girls' names in Japan, so it is entirely ordinary there.
- The spelling needs no accents and is stable in romanisation.
- English speakers collapse the two vowels into one syllable.
- The meaning depends on which characters a family chose, so there is no single answer.
- It is rare in the United States and will be spelled out routinely.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Yui to the vote.
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What they receive
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Yui
Feminine · #5917 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Yuis 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 Yui are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Yui in 2025?
- Yui ranks #5917 among US girl names in 2025, with 20 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Yui?
- About 1 in every 80,363 US girls born in 2025 was named Yui — 20 in all.
- Will my child share the name Yui with classmates?
- Yui will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Yui
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Elda#5917 · Saloma#5917 · Fawn#5917 · Sarafina#5917 · Jaymie#5917 · Jania#5917 · Kimberlynn#5917 · Patsy#5917
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Yui? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Yui and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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