118 Girl Names That Start With Y (With Meanings and Popularity)
Girl names that start with Y include a few familiar choices, such as Yvette and Yvonne, Yasmin and Yasmina, Yael and Yolanda. However, Y remains a very rare first initial for girl names today, with only Yara, Yaretzi, and Yareli currently ranking in the US Top 1000.
Along with Yara and Yael, other uncommon and unique Y-starting girl names we recommend include the mythical Yseult, the literary Yvaine, and the smart surname name Yardley.
Girls' names beginning with Y also include several international forms of names that are more commonly spelled with an I or J in English, such as the Spanish variants Ynez and Ysabel, or the popular Russian name Yuliya, which ranks in the Top 50 girl names in Russia.
Here, our full selection of girl names that start with Y, ordered by their current popularity on Nameberry.
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- Yara
Origin:
ArabicMeaning:
"friend, helper"
- Yvaine
Origin:
Female variation of Yvain or ScottishMeaning:
"evening star"
- Yuna
Origin:
Japanese, Breton, Korean, Chinese
- Yvette
Origin:
French, feminine of YvesMeaning:
"yew tree"
- Yvonne
Origin:
FrenchMeaning:
"yew wood"
- Yael
Origin:
HebrewMeaning:
"ibex"
- Yasmin
Origin:
PersianMeaning:
"jasmine flower"
- Yaretzi
Origin:
Nahuatl, AztecMeaning:
"you will always be loved"
- Yari
Origin:
Spanish, HebrewMeaning:
"gold"
- Yui
Origin:
JapaneseMeaning:
"superior garment"
- Yolanda
Origin:
Spanish from GreekMeaning:
"violet flower"
- Yuki
Origin:
JapaneseMeaning:
"snow"
- Yasmine
Origin:
Arabic variation of JasmineMeaning:
"jasmine flower"
- Yuri
Origin:
JapaneseMeaning:
"lily"
- Yareli
Origin:
Native American, Spanish variation of Yara, ArabicMeaning:
"water lady; small butterfly"
- Yoko
Origin:
JapaneseMeaning:
"good girl; ocean child"
- Yelena
Origin:
Russian variation of HelenMeaning:
"bright, shining one"
- Yesenia
Origin:
Spanish tree nameMeaning:
"floral"
- Yona
Origin:
Cherokee or variation of Jonah, HebrewMeaning:
"bear; dove"
- Yseult
Origin:
French variation of Iseult, CelticMeaning:
"fair, light-skinned"