Given name & surname
Yunus
“resembling a dolphin”
Yunus is used as a given name and a surname. One Turkish interpretation is “resembling a dolphin.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One Turkish interpretation is “resembling a dolphin.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Turkish.
How it developed
In Indonesian usage, Yunus developed from יונה.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1988. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Yunus through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 1,369
- 1,369 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 2025
- 151 babies
- 2025
- 151
- #1,296 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +65%
- Rising fast
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 151 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 1,296 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 65.2% higher in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. In 2025, New York had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (24). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 1,117 as a first name in 2020; 476 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.
Yunus’s family of names
In Indonesian usage, Yunus developed from the Hebrew form יונה. In Turkish usage, Yunus has a conventional equivalent in the English form Jonah. Yunus has a related form in Younis.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Yunus has relatives in 4 languages. Lines run from its Turkish roots to each of them.
4 related names in 4 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 9
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
- Younisvariant
- Yunisvariant
- Yunesvariant
- Yunusslikely variant
- Yoonisvariant
- Yoonasvariant
- Yunasvariant
- Yoonesvariant
Show 1 moreShow fewer
Spellings & scripts 3
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 7
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Yunus
- Ibn YunusEgyptian mathematician (c. 950–1009)
- Yunus AkgünTurkish association football player (born 2000)
- Yunus MusahAmerican soccer playerborn 2002
- Yunus MallıTurkish-German association football player (born 1992)
- Yunus PashaGrand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire (1517)1450–1517
- Sagopa KajmerTurkish rapper (born 1978)
- Yunus Emre KonakTurkish association football player (born 2006)
- Yunus QanuniAfghan politicianborn 1957
- Yunus Nadi AbalıoğluTurkish journalist (1879–1945)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
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