Yuan
- Gender
- Boy
- Say it
- YWEN
- Origin
- Chinese
- US rank, 2025
- #5,859 for boys
Yuan is a boys' name of Chinese origin. In 2025 it ranked 5,859th for boys in the US (15 babies).
What does Yuan mean?
Chinese: meaning depends on the character used
A common character is 元, 'first, origin', also the name of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty.
Is Yuan a girl's or a boy's name?
Yuan is a boys' name. In 2025, it was given to 15 boys in the US. Too few girls were given it to be listed.
How popular is Yuan in the UK?
No boys in the UK were given it in 2025, or too few to be listed. Its busiest year was 2010, with 9 boys.
Yuan in the UK, year by year
| Year | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 1 | #6,556 |
| 2022 | 0 | – |
| 2021 | 0 | – |
| 2020 | 0 | – |
| 2019 | 0 | – |
| 2018 | 0 | – |
| 2017 | 0 | – |
| 2016 | 0 | – |
| 2015 | 1 | #6,220 |
| 2014 | 5 | #3,529 |
| 2013 | 5 | #3,466 |
| 2012 | 0 | – |
| 2011 | 5 | #3,446 |
| 2010 | 9 | #2,306 |
| 2009 | 6 | #2,970 |
| 2008 | 0 | – |
| 2007 | 0 | – |
| 2006 | 0 | – |
| 2005 | 4 | #3,330 |
| 2004 | 1 | #4,870 |
How popular is Yuan in the US?
- Rank in 2025
- 5,859th among boys
- Babies in 2025
- 15 about 1 in 110,000 boys
- Five-year trend
- Too rare to call too few babies to tell
- Same name in a class
- under 1% chance among 15 boys
In 2025, 15 boys in the US were named Yuan, making it the 5,859th most popular name for boys. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 12,016th. It first appears in the records in 1984.
2025 had the most boys named Yuan of any year since it first appeared, in 1984.
Half of all the boys named Yuan in the US since 1880 were born between 2008 and 2021, the years shaded on the chart below.
Yuan in the US, year by year
| Year | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 15 | #5,859 |
| 2024 | 14 | #6,194 |
| 2023 | 6 | #10,815 |
| 2022 | 7 | #9,815 |
| 2021 | 6 | #10,794 |
| 2020 | 5 | #12,016 |
| 2019 | 11 | #7,168 |
| 2018 | 8 | #8,813 |
| 2017 | 7 | #9,691 |
| 2016 | 8 | #8,811 |
| 2015 | 11 | #7,061 |
| 2014 | 0 | – |
| 2013 | 7 | #9,650 |
| 2012 | 8 | #8,858 |
| 2011 | 0 | – |
| 2010 | 5 | #12,224 |
| 2009 | 7 | #9,859 |
| 2008 | 10 | #7,693 |
| 2007 | 0 | – |
| 2006 | 0 | – |
| 2005 | 7 | #9,108 |
| 2004 | 8 | #8,137 |
| 2003 | 0 | – |
| 2002 | 0 | – |
| 2001 | 6 | #9,236 |
| 2000 | 5 | #10,341 |
| 1999 | 0 | – |
| 1998 | 8 | #6,837 |
| 1997 | 0 | – |
| 1996 | 0 | – |
| 1995 | 0 | – |
| 1994 | 0 | – |
| 1993 | 0 | – |
| 1992 | 0 | – |
| 1991 | 0 | – |
| 1990 | 0 | – |
| 1989 | 0 | – |
| 1988 | 0 | – |
| 1987 | 0 | – |
| 1986 | 0 | – |
| 1985 | 0 | – |
| 1984 | 6 | #5,557 |
Names like Yuan
Names given in the same years and the same naming tradition, with a similar sound.
Yug, Minh, Loki, Tai, Kairo, Shko, Yoan, Rumi, Yitzchok, Yusuf, Yakov, Yunus
Names related to Yuan
More Chinese names
Lian, Jia, Mei, Tian, Jun, Mulan, Yi, Tao, San, Jian, Han, Mian, Bao, Xia, Lin, Yichen
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, “Yuan: name meaning, origin and popularity”, https://www.nameling.co.uk/names/yuan, updated 20 October 2026.