Given name & surname
Yankee
Yankee is used as a given name, a surname, and a nickname.
Meaning & origin
A reliable meaning for Yankee isn’t established in our sources yet. Rather than guess, we show what is recorded: how the name is used, how often, and the names it’s connected to.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 2007. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Yankee through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 5
- 5 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 2007
- 5 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 5 in 2007. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 728 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Yankee’s family of names
In English usage, Yankee has a short form in Yank. In English usage, Yankee shares an earlier linguistic root with Jack. Yankee has a related form in Yancy.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 2
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 1
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
Similar names
If you love Yankee, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.