Name Awesome

Yves

#5,596 in 2025UnisexBoys' nameGirls' name

Possibly yew, through Yves

Yves has been given to 1,261 babies in the U.S. since 1916. In 2025 it ranked #5,596 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 1985, with 37 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 95% boys, 5% girls all-time.

Babies named Yves, 2025

1 in 195,000

Yves over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
01020304018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Yves over time

In 2025, Yves went to 35% girls and 65% boys.

19162025

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Yves: meaning, origin, and history

Possibly yew, through Yves

French and English

What Yves means

Yves belongs to the name family reached through Yves → Yves. Its meaning is “yew”.

Origin, language, and formation

Yves is used in English, Cebuano and French. Its origins include French and English.

Yves comes through French Yves.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Yves.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Yves is pronounced /ˈiːv/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 1,202 boys were recorded with the name Yves between 1916 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 37 in 1985; its best national rank was #1,691 in 1981.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #6,608 in 2020 to #5,596 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #6,311 in 2015 to #5,596 in 2025.

In the United States, 59 girls were recorded with the name Yves between 1980 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 10 in 2023; its best national rank was #7,412 in 1980.

Over 10 years its rank rose, from #12,962 in 2015 to #10,891 in 2025.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Yves?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 195,000
17 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 100,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#5,596
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
135,172 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Yves sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 135,172 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Yves. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Yvess were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Yves was born before 1987 — so the typical Yves is around 38 today.

Median birth year
1987
About 38 years old
Biggest decade
1980s
22.0% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
27.9%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
1,175
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1980s — 22.0% of all recorded uses (264).

Is Yves rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
−163
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
+1,012
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
+715
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
1.21×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
45.9%
Peak was 1985 (37)
Years since peak
40
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
31.5% average annual change
Best rank ever
#1,691
1981

Spellings of Yves

Yves is not the most common spelling — Myles is, with 54.3% against Yves's 1.0%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Yves is used

Across 1910–2025, Yves was most concentrated in New York — about 1 in 50,000 boys, against 1 in 140,357 across all states with data. It was least common in New Jersey (1 in —).

02 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1New York1 in 50,000
  2. 2Florida1 in 100,000
  3. 3California1 in —
  4. 4Georgia1 in —
  5. 5New Jersey1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Yves has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Yves around the world

Where Yves ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1996–2024
    #4,271
    in 2024
  • France
    1900–2025
    #2,236
    in 2025
  • Canada
    1991–2023
    #2,216
    in 2023
  • South Australia
    1978–1998
    #534
    in 1998

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Yves by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#5,596
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 1,012
Best rank ever
#1,691
1981
Peak year
1985
37 that year
First recorded
1916
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
1,202
Count in 2025
17

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#10,891
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
New entry
Best rank ever
#7,412
1980
Peak year
2023
10 that year
First recorded
1980
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
59
Count in 2025
9

Names similar to Yves

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

ReevesYvensYvetteNievesGravesIvesTravesReavesRivesElvesYvensonTavesAlvesGrovesTreves

Sibling names for Yves

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Yves

Top names of 1985, Yves's peak yearThe 1980s in fullOther names that peaked in 1981Boys' names starting with YShort French Boy Names