Given name & surname
York
“from the yew settlement”
York is used as a given name and a surname. One English interpretation is “from the yew settlement.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One English interpretation is “from the yew settlement.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is English.
How it developed
From Old Norse Jórvík, from Old English Eoforwīċ, from Latin Eborācum, from Proto-Brythonic *Eβrọg, built from Proto-Celtic *eburos (“yew”) + *ākos.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1880. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
York through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 966
- 955 boys · 11 girls
- Most popular year
- 1971
- 21 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −50%
- Cooling
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 8 in 2024. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for boys was 21 in 1971. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 795 as a first name in 2020; 50,675 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.
York’s family of names
York has a related form in Yorc. In German usage, York has a related form in Yorck. York has a related form in Yorck.
The ring: nicknames and forms.
Nicknames & forms 10
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
- Yorkevariant · English
- Yorckvariant · German
- Yorcvariant
- Yorkeahvariant
- Yorkeavariant
- Yorkeevariant
- Yorkeyvariant
- Yorkyvariant
Show 2 moreShow fewer
See also 1
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named York
- York HöllerGerman composerborn 1944
- York RafaelSwedish-Rwandan association football playerborn 1999
- York LareseAmerican basketball player and coach (1938–2016)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
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