How popular is the baby name Yoanni in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Yoanni.

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Popularity of the baby name Yoanni


Posts that mention the name Yoanni

Where did the baby name Yoenis come from in 2015?

Baseball player Yoenis Céspedes
Yoenis Céspedes

The rare name Yoenis has appeared in the U.S. baby name data just once so far, in 2015:

  • 2017: unlisted
  • 2016: unlisted
  • 2015: 7 baby boys named Yoenis [debut]
  • 2014: unlisted
  • 2013: unlisted

What put it there?

Professional baseball player Yoenis Céspedes (pronounced yo-EHN-eess SES-peh-des).

Yoenis, an outfielder and power hitter, played on four different Major League Baseball teams from 2012 to 2020.

He saw the most success in the mid-2010s, when he was named an All-Star twice (in 2014 and 2016) and won both a Gold Glove Award (in 2015) and a Silver Slugger Award (in 2016).

Yoenis was born in Cuba in 1985, and is therefore part of Cuba’s Generación Y (i.e., one of the many Cubans who were given Y-names during the 1970s and ’80s). In fact, Yoenis was “[p]erhaps the best-known example” of this trend in the MLB, according to a New York Times article from mid-2016.

(The article also mentioned the high proportion of Y-names on the roster of Cuba’s national baseball team, which had played an exhibition game against the Tampa Bay Rays in Havana that spring. Of the 30 players, ten had Y-names: Yoandry, Yoanni, Yorbis, Yordan, Yordanis, Yosvani #1, Yosvani #2, Yunier, Yunior, and Yurisbel.)

What are your thoughts on the name Yoenis?

P.S. Céspedes’ younger half-brother, Yoelqui, currently plays in the minor leagues.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Yoenis Cespedes talks to reporters on WSMediaDay by Arturo Pardavila III under CC BY 2.0.

Inventive baby names in Cuba

Havana, Cuba

Here are some of the inventive baby names that have been bestowed in Cuba over the last few decades:

  • Adianez (Zenaida backwards)
  • Ailed (Delia backwards)
  • Boris
  • Aledmys
  • Danyer (from the English word “danger“)
  • Dayesi
  • Dianisleysis (in honor of Princess Diana)
  • Disami
  • Geyne (combination of Geronimo and Nelly)
  • Hanoi (from the name of the capital of Vietnam)
  • Juliabe
  • Katia
  • Leydi (from the English word “lady”)
  • Maivi (from the English word “maybe”)
  • Mayren (combination of Mayra and Rene)
  • Migdisray (combination of Migdalia and Raymundo)
  • Milaidys (from the English phrase “my lady”)
  • Odlanier (Reinaldo backwards)
  • Olnavy (from “Old Navy”)
  • Orazal (Lazaro backwards)
  • Robelkis (combination of Roberto and Belkis)
  • Tatiana
  • Usarmy (from “U.S. Army”)
  • Usmail (from “U.S. Mail”)
  • Usnavi (from “U.S. Navy”)
  • Widayesi
  • Yadel
  • Yakarta (based on Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia)
  • Yamisel
  • Yander
  • Yaneymi (combination of Yanet and Mijail)
  • Yanisey
  • Yasnaya (possibly based on Yasnaya Polyana, the name of several locations in Russia)
  • Yirmara
  • Yoanni
  • Yoelkis
  • Yohendry
  • Yolaide
  • Yordanka
  • Yosbel
  • Yotuel (from the Spanish words yo, tu, el, meaning “I, you, he”)
  • Yovel
  • Yulieski
  • Yumara
  • Yumilsis
  • Yunier
  • Yuri
  • Yuset

Why all the Y-names? It has to do with the Soviet Union’s influence in Cuba, which made Russian-sounding names (often ones that start with Y) fashionable on the island for a number of years. In fact, Cubans born during the ’70s and ’80s have been referred to as Generación Y.

Lillian Guerra, a professor of Cuban history at the University of Florida, says that names like Usmail and Usarmy began popping up in the 1990s, when Cubans started coming into contact with American travelers and culture.

Aurora Camacho, a member of the Cuban Institute for Literature and Linguistics, notes that more traditional names like Maria and Pedro are still being used in Cuba, but “certainly with less frequency.”

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Oldtimers on Paseo de Marti, Havana, Cuba by kuhnmi under CC BY 2.0.