How popular is the baby name Yoenis 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 Yoenis.

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Popularity of the baby name Yoenis


Posts that mention the name Yoenis

What gave the baby name Yasiel a boost in the 2010s?

Baseball player Yasiel Puig
Yasiel Puig

According to the U.S. baby name data, the rare name Yasiel saw a relatively steep increase in usage from 2012 to 2014. Much of this new usage took place in the state of California specifically.

  • 2015: 48 baby boys named Yasiel, 12 (25%) born in CA
  • 2014: 69 baby boys named Yasiel, 20 (29%) born in CA
  • 2013: 39 baby boys named Yasiel, 15 (38%) born in CA
  • 2012: 12 baby boys named Yasiel
  • 2011: 18 baby boys named Yasiel

What accounts for the increase?

Cuban-born professional baseball player Yasiel Puig (yah-see-el pweeg), who played all but one of his seven MLB seasons (2013-2019) with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Yasiel, an outfielder, had an impressive rookie season. (In June, his very first month in the Majors, he won two National League awards: Rookie of the Month and Player of the Month.) The following year, he was a starter in the 2014 All-Star Game.

The usage of his name rose again in 2017 and 2018, corresponding to the two years Yasiel made it all the way to the World Series with the Dodgers. (They lost to the Houston Astros and the Boston Red Sox, respectively.)

What are your thoughts on the name Yasiel?

P.S. Another Cuban ballplayer with a Y-name, Yoenis Céspedes, had a (small) influence on baby names around the same time…

Sources: Yasiel Puig – Wikipedia, SSA

Image: Adaped from Yasiel Puig during game against Yankees 9-13-16 (5) by Arturo Pardavila III under CC BY 2.0.

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.

Interesting one-hit wonder names in the U.S. baby name data

single flower

They came, they went, and they never came back!

These baby names are one-hit wonders in the U.S. baby name data. That is, they’ve only popped up once, ever, in the entire dataset of U.S. baby names (which accounts for all names given to at least 5 U.S. babies per year since 1880).

There are thousands of one-hit wonders in the dataset, but the names below have interesting stories behind their single appearance, so these are the one-hits I’m writing specific posts about. Just click on a name to read more.

2020s

  • 2020: Jexi
  • 2016: Riggan

2010s

2000s

1990s

1980s

1970s

1960s

1950s

1940s

1930s

1920s

1910s

1900s

  • (none yet)

1890s

As I discover (and write about) more one-hit wonders in the data, I’ll add the names/links to this page. In the meanwhile, do you have any favorite one-hit wonder baby names?

Image: Adapted from Solitary Poppy by Andy Beecroft under CC BY-SA 2.0.

[Latest update: Apr. 2024]