How popular is the baby name Yuri 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 Yuri.

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Popularity of the baby name Yuri


Posts that mention the name Yuri

Baby names for space lovers (Namestorm #11)

Captivated by the cosmos? You might enjoy this list of space-inspired baby names:

Robert (and Nell)
American physicist Robert Goddard launched the first liquid-fueled rocket (nicknamed Nell) in Auburn, Massachusetts on March 16, 1926.

Yuri
Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to enter space and return safely on April 12, 1961.

Alan
Astronaut Alan Shepard became the first American in space on May 5, 1961.

Valentina
Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space on June 16, 1963.

Alexey (and Eva)
Cosmonaut Alexey Leonov carried out the first EVA (extra-vehicular activity–in this case, a spacewalk) on March 18, 1965.

Edwin and Neil
Astronauts Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin and Neil Armstrong become the first men to walk on the moon on July 20, 1969.

Vladimir
Czechoslovak cosmonaut Vladimír Remek became the first Non-American, non-Soviet in space on March 2, 1978.

Sally
Astronaut Sally Ride became the first American woman in space on June 18, 1983.

Svetlana
Cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya became the first woman to perform a spacewalk on July 25, 1984.

Anna
Astronaut Anna Fisher became the first mother in space* on November 8, 1984.

Helen
British cosmonaut Helen Sharman became the first non-American, non-Soviet female in space on May 18, 1991.

Peggy
American biochemist Peggy Whitson became the first resident scientist of the International Space Station in 2002.

And now, a couple of questions:

  • Can you come up with any other space-related baby names?
  • What interests/activities should we namestorm about next?

*By “the first mother in space,” I mean the first woman with children to go into space, not the first woman to give birth in space.

Sources: Key Milestones in Space Exploration, Space Exploration Timeline, Wikipedia, Women in Space

“Generación Y” names in Cuba: Yanisleidi, Yoandri, Yuniesky

Cars in Havana, Cuba

Havana-based blogger Yoani Sánchez (b. 1975) has become an unofficial spokesperson for Cuba’s young people via her blog Generación Y.

Here’s how Yoani describes her blog, and its title:

Generation Y is a Blog inspired by people like me, with names that start with or contain a “Y”. Born in Cuba in the ’70s and ’80s, marked by schools in the countryside, Russian cartoons, illegal emigration and frustration. So I invite, especially, Yanisleidi, Yoandri, Yusimí, Yuniesky and others who carry their “Y’s” to read me and to write to me.

During the 1970s and ’80s, the Soviet Union was providing substantial financial aid to Cuba, so Cuban names were no doubt being influenced by Russian names — many of which (like Yuri and Yevgeni) began with Y.

Here’s how Yoani explained the inventive names being bestowed in Cuba toward the end of the Cold War:

For some decades, Cubans named their children with a freedom they could not experience in other spheres in life. The grayness that the ration market and state control spread over our existence vanished when you inscribed your newborn’s name in the civil register. The parents played with the language and created real tongue twisters, such as the famous baseball player’s name: “Vicyohandri.” A few even came up with the unusual composition “Yesdasí,” a mix of the English, Russian and Spanish words for “yes.”

She also noted that the times had since changed — that an “entire generation that had been named as if it were a laboratory experiment, now prefers to go back to the old ways” (i.e., more traditional names). She summed it up this way: “Sanity has returned to the act of naming children.”

Sources:

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

[Latest update: Apr. 2025]