Yuri
The story
Yuri is two names that happen to share a spelling. The first is the Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian form of George, from Greek georgos, farmer or earthworker; Behind the Name's entry for the fuller spelling Yuriy names a twelfth-century grand prince of Kyiv and the cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first man to travel to space. The second is a Japanese feminine name: written with the kanji for lily it means exactly that, though Behind the Name notes other kanji can form it too. The American record carries both at once, and the girls' column is the larger: 875 girls so far this decade against 507 boys, already the most girls in any decade on record for the name, with years still to run. Brazil, meanwhile, took the masculine name and ran: its census counts 142,231 bearers, nearly all male, median age just 13, good for 237th place among all Brazilian names. One spelling, two different names underneath.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Yuri peaked in the 2020s.
Popularity in Brazil
142,231 people · the #237 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 1,429 · median age 13
Among people named Yuri living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 2010s than in any other decade.
The census also counted 19,159 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Yuri
Most people given the name Yuri in the United States are teenagers or young adults today.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Yuri deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Yuri 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 Yuri fits with your family’s names and surname.
Keep exploring
Nicknames for Yuri · Russian baby names · Names of explorers and adventurers · Short names
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