Given name
Yannis
“a gift of God”
Yannis is used as a given name. One Hebrew interpretation is “a gift of God.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One Hebrew interpretation is “a gift of God.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Hebrew.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1973. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Yannis through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 743
- 586 boys · 157 girls
- Most popular year
- 2023
- 58 babies
- 2025
- 37
- #4,043 for boys · #10,080 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +119%
- Rising fast
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 27 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 4,043 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 83.8% higher in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. It also appeared in 10 birth records for girls in 2025. In 2025, New York had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (5). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 593 as a first name in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Yannis’s family of names
Yannis has a related form in Yan. In German usage, Yannis has a related form in Johannes. Yannis has a related form in Yanni.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 18
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 62
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
- Jackequivalent
- Johnequivalent
- Ianequivalent
- Giovanniequivalent
- Evanequivalent
- Juanequivalent
- Ivanequivalent
- Gianniequivalent
Show 52 moreShow fewer
- Johnnyequivalent
- Seanequivalent
- Johanequivalent
- Joanequivalent
- Jeanequivalent
- Gianequivalent
- Jonequivalent
- Hansequivalent
- Joaoequivalent
- Johannequivalent
- Janequivalent
- Ioannisequivalent
- Yiannisequivalent
- Ionequivalent
- Yvanequivalent
- Yannequivalent
- Ivoequivalent
- Giovanequivalent
- Jehanequivalent
- Ioanequivalent
- Jaanequivalent
- Ieuanequivalent
- Ivanoequivalent
- Hannsequivalent
- Hannesequivalent
- Iwanequivalent
- Ivánequivalent
- Yankaequivalent
- Jóhannequivalent
- Jánosequivalent
- Ioannesequivalent
- Ifanequivalent
- Jóhanequivalent
- Joãoequivalent
- Erwannequivalent
- Xoánequivalent
- Іванequivalent
- Siônequivalent
- Ioannequivalent
- Jānisequivalent
- Joannesequivalent
- Giuànequivalent
- Jónequivalent
- Γιάννηςequivalent
- Seánequivalent
- Iwoequivalent
- Иванequivalent
- Johannèsequivalent
- Янкаequivalent
- Honzaequivalent
- Jóhannesequivalent
- Jankaequivalent
And 2 more.
People named Yannis
- Yannis StournarasGreek politician and university professorborn 1956
- Yannis TsarouchisGreek painter (1910-1989)
- Yannis TaferFrench footballerborn 1991
- Yannis PloutarchosGreek laiko singerborn 1970
- Yannis DragasakisGreek politicianborn 1947
- Yannis SmaragdisGreek film directorborn 1946
- Yannis SaliburFrench association football playerborn 1991
- Yannis PhilippakisGreek singerborn 1986
- Yannis BehrakisGreek photographer (1960–2019)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Yannis, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Younus
Younus is a surname from Arabic, ultimately from Hebrew.
>99% boys
Yousaf
Yousaf is a surname from Urdu, ultimately from Hebrew.
>99% boys
Oseias
Oseias is a masculine given name from Hebrew. It is used in Portuguese.
>99% boys
Abdias
“servant of God”
>99% boys
Ozer
“assistant, helper”
>99% boys
Shimshon
“sun”
>99% boys
Refael
Refael is a masculine given name from Hebrew. It is used in Asturian.
>99% boys
Tzvi
“resembling a deer”
>99% boys