Yago
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Meaning
old Spanish form of James (Iacobus), the Yago inside Santiago, 'Saint James'
The story
Yago is the older name inside Santiago, which joins the Spanish saint designation to Yago in reference to Saint James. Yago itself is a Spanish form of Latin Iacobus, in the family of Jacob and James, reaching back through Greek to Hebrew Ya’aqov. It did not begin simply as a modern clipping of Santiago.
The Hebrew origin remains uncertain. Genesis connects Jacob’s name with a heel and with supplanting, or taking another’s place. Scholars have also proposed a longer name meaning “may God protect.”
The Spanish athlete Yago Lamela won long-jump silver at the World Indoor Championships in Maebashi, Japan, with 8.56 metres, a European indoor record at the time. To show readers the distance, staff at the newspaper Marca laid copies of the paper end to end across the floor.
Yago also has substantial recent use in Brazil. The 2022 census counted 59,149 living residents with that first name, with a median age of 14. A sporting association there is surfer Yago Dora, whose Rio Pro victory was his first World Surf League Championship Tour event win. In the final he earned a perfect wave score.
How popular is Yago around the world?
In the United States, Yago is on the Social Security birth record for 2020 to 2025. At the 2022 census, 59,149 people in Brazil were named Yago, the 509th most common name, with a median age of 14.
Yago is on the official records of the United States, Brazil, Spain, Argentina, Mexico City and France.
United States
on record
In the United States, Yago is on the Social Security birth record for 2020 to 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Yago has stayed rare in US records the whole time: no peak decade to name.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Brazil
1 in 3,400
At the 2022 census, 59,149 people in Brazil were named Yago, the 509th most common name, with a median age of 14.
Among people named Yago living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 2010s than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
The census also counted 6,675 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart. People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
Spain
1 in 4,600
In Spain, 9,801 residents are named Yago, the 268th most common name among men, with a mean age of 17.5 years.
Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025
Argentina
1 in 19,000
In Argentina, 34 newborns were given the name Yago in 2024.
share of that year’s name registrations
Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024
Mexico City City
1 in 39,000
In Mexico City, there were 3 registrations of Yago in 2022.
share of that year’s registrations in the city
Civil-registry acts in Mexico City by registration year. Counts are lower bounds (names under 6 in a month and borough are removed at source) and count name-instances, not people; compound names are split, so “Maria Jose” counts under each part. 2023, a partial extract through 3 Mar with no cell on record for this name, is excluded. Source: Registro Civil of Mexico City, open data portal, registered given names 2000-2023
France
1 in 64,000
In France, about 10 boys named Yago were born in 2025, ranked 3,002nd among boys that year.
share of that year’s births on record
Births in France by year of birth, from INSEE’s fichier des prénoms (1900–2025; Mayotte from 2012); exact spellings count separately (Léo and Leo are different names), any spelling under 3 in a year and sex is withheld at source, every count is rounded to the nearest 5 at source, and nametree keeps the spellings that reached 20 in some year. Shares divide by INSEE’s count of births in France from 1957, and before that by the file’s own total for the year; INSEE says the file is not complete before 1946. Source: Insee, fichier des prénoms (last updated 2026-07-16)
England and Wales
last on record 2022
Yago is not on the 2025 record for England and Wales, where spellings under 3 in a year are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 5 in a year, too few to chart.
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Montevideo City
last on record 2010
Yago is not on the 2011 record for Montevideo, whose registry withholds nothing, so the spelling was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 6 in a year, too few to chart.
Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial
Not on the record in Puerto Rico, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand and Scotland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the South Australia record for 1944 to 2017: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years.
Keep exploring
The Yago deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Yago truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Yago fits with your family’s names and surname.
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