Yael

What Yael means

Meaning not yet sourced. Wiktionary has no word-by-word meaning for Yael yet, and we don’t write our own.

Editor’s note Used for both: 71% of US babies named Yael in 2025 were boys Worked out from the official US and England & Wales counts, not a meaning.

How popular is Yael?

US: Rising: up from #1092 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2023, when 329 boys got the name (#775 that year). First in the US records in 1984.

How common

• About 1 in 5,619 baby boys in the US in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in AZ (0.55 per 1,000 boys), MA (0.48 per 1,000 boys), NC (0.37 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Yael is #817 in the US. It is not in the England & Wales list for 2025.

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 70.5% of US babies named Yael were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

Other spellings

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Yoel103 US · 15 E&W
• Yul5 US
• Yuel0 US · 4 E&W

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

Spelling variants on Wiktionary

• Jael

Listed as alternative forms on Wiktionary.

If you like Yael

Boys

• Johan#572Variant of Joan, meaning “God is gracious”^*
• Malachi#134“my messenger”^*
• Elijah#7“Yahweh is my god”^*
• Simon#230“sixpence coin”^*
• Joan#984“God is gracious”^*
• Noah#2Editor’s note Steady in the US: #1 in 2015 and #2 in 2025. About 1 in 84 US boys in the 2025 records

For a sister

• Azaria#638Editor’s note First shows up in US records in 1988, with 6 babies
• Maya#62Editor’s note Steady in the US: #68 in 2015 and #62 in 2025. About 1 in 430 US girls in the 2025 records
• Sarai#424“master, chief”^*
• Ava#11Editor’s note Down from #4 in 2015 to #11 in 2025 in the US. About 1 in 210 US girls in the 2025 records
• Lilah#179Editor’s note Up from #314 in 2015 to #179 in 2025 in the US
• Keziah#766Variant of Kezia, meaning “cassia tree”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Hebrew, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Yael’s. Rank is US 2025.