Yemaya
- Gender
- Girl
- Say it
- yeh-MY-a
- Origin
- Yoruba
- UK rank, 2025
- #4,935 for girls
- US rank, 2025
- #4,459 for girls
Yemaya is a girls' name of Yoruba origin, meaning “mother whose children are fish”. In 2025 it ranked 4,935th for girls in the UK (4 babies) and 4,459th for girls in the US (31 babies).
What does Yemaya mean?
Yoruba: Spanish spelling of Yemoja, a Yoruba orisha
“mother whose children are fish”
Yemaya is the Yoruba orisha of the sea and motherhood, honoured in Santeria and other Afro-Caribbean religions.
Is Yemaya a girl's or a boy's name?
Yemaya is a girls' name. In 2025, it was given to 4 girls in the UK and 31 girls in the US. Too few boys were given it to be listed.
How popular is Yemaya in the UK?
- Rank in 2025
- #4,935among girls
- Babies in 2025
- 4about 1 in 70,000 girls
- Five-year trend
- Too rare to calltoo few babies to tell
- Same name in a class
- under 1%chance among 15 girls
In 2025, 4 girls in the UK were named Yemaya, making it the 4,935th most popular name for girls. Its busiest year was 2022, with 5 girls.
Among girls in 2025, it was 4,866th in England and Wales.
Yemaya in the UK, year by year
| Year | Girls | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 4 | #4,935 |
| 2024 | 0 | – |
| 2023 | 3 | #5,929 |
| 2022 | 5 | #4,168 |
| 2021 | 3 | #5,824 |
| 2020 | 0 | – |
| 2019 | 3 | #5,804 |
| 2018 | 3 | #5,896 |
| 2017 | 0 | – |
| 2016 | 0 | – |
| 2015 | 0 | – |
| 2014 | 0 | – |
| 2013 | 0 | – |
| 2012 | 0 | – |
| 2011 | 0 | – |
| 2010 | 0 | – |
| 2009 | 0 | – |
| 2008 | 0 | – |
| 2007 | 0 | – |
| 2006 | 0 | – |
| 2005 | 0 | – |
| 2004 | 0 | – |
| 2003 | 0 | – |
| 2002 | 0 | – |
| 2001 | 0 | – |
| 2000 | 0 | – |
| 1999 | 3 | #4,041 |
| 1998 | 0 | – |
| 1997 | 3 | #3,991 |
How popular is Yemaya in the US?
- Rank in 2025
- #4,459among girls
- Babies in 2025
- 31about 1 in 52,000 girls
- Five-year trend
- Risingup 35% in five years
- Same name in a class
- under 1%chance among 15 girls
In 2025, 31 girls in the US were named Yemaya, making it the 4,459th most popular name for girls. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 3,734th. Its busiest year was 2023, with 57 girls. It first appears in the records in 1991.
2025 had fewer girls named Yemaya than any year since 2018.
Half of all the girls named Yemaya in the US since 1880 were born between 2015 and 2023, the years shaded on the chart below.
Yemaya in the US, year by year
| Year | Girls | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 31 | #4,459 |
| 2024 | 42 | #3,639 |
| 2023 | 57 | #2,936 |
| 2022 | 51 | #3,170 |
| 2021 | 49 | #3,250 |
| 2020 | 39 | #3,734 |
| 2019 | 33 | #4,259 |
| 2018 | 24 | #5,311 |
| 2017 | 21 | #5,817 |
| 2016 | 19 | #6,398 |
| 2015 | 18 | #6,719 |
| 2014 | 6 | #14,552 |
| 2013 | 9 | #10,995 |
| 2012 | 6 | #14,956 |
| 2011 | 10 | #10,370 |
| 2010 | 10 | #10,446 |
| 2009 | 11 | #9,971 |
| 2008 | 6 | #15,399 |
| 2007 | 10 | #10,814 |
| 2006 | 7 | #13,601 |
| 2005 | 8 | #11,828 |
| 2004 | 0 | – |
| 2003 | 0 | – |
| 2002 | 0 | – |
| 2001 | 0 | – |
| 2000 | 5 | #15,024 |
| 1999 | 6 | #12,681 |
| 1998 | 0 | – |
| 1997 | 7 | #10,831 |
| 1996 | 5 | #13,511 |
| 1995 | 0 | – |
| 1994 | 0 | – |
| 1993 | 0 | – |
| 1992 | 0 | – |
| 1991 | 5 | #13,139 |
Names like Yemaya
Names given in the same years and the same naming tradition, with a similar sound.
Safa Abeeha Nusaybah Alaya Raya Ayra Hafsa Amira Amaya Inaya Khadija Ayah
Names related to Yemaya
More Yoruba names
Tiaraoluwa Ayomide Tobi Oluwadarasimi Oluwatamilore Ireoluwa Inioluwa Ifeoluwa Iremide Araoluwa Ayomikun Oluwanifemi Morayo Temiloluwa Obaloluwa Oluwatobiloba
Sources
Figures from Baby names in England and Wales (Office for National Statistics), Babies' first names (National Records of Scotland), Baby names (Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency) and Popular Baby Names (US Social Security Administration). Nameling last updated them on 20 October 2026. How the figures are worked out, and the data to download.
To cite this page: Nameling, “Yemaya: name meaning, origin and popularity”, https://www.nameling.co.uk/names/yemaya, updated 20 October 2026.