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Home › Baby Names Directory › Yakima

Yakima

♀ Girl

Pronounced YAK-ih-mah /ˈjæk.ɪ.mɑ/Medium

Meaning: Yakima comes from the Yakama Nation of the Columbia Plateau in what is now Washington State, and from the river, valley, and city that carry the name. As a given name it is a place-and-heritage choice rather than a word with a settled dictionary meaning; the anglicized spelling reflects how the tribal name was recorded on maps.Low

In 30 seconds: Yakima is a place-and-heritage name tied to the Yakama people and the Washington valley and city that share it. It was always rare in the U.S. (said YAK-ih-mah).
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Origin LowNative American
MeaningYakima comes from the Yakama Nation of the Columbia Plateau in what is now Washington State, and from the river, valley, and city that carry the name. As a given name it is a place-and-heritage choice rather than a word with a settled dictionary meaning; the anglicized spelling reflects how the tribal name was recorded on maps.
U.S. rank (2008)#20355 ↘ Falling
2008 U.S. births5 girls (0.00% of U.S. girls)
Peak year1980
Total births (all-time)≈ 261

Popularity in the U.S. · SSA data

peak 198019712008

U.S. births per year (Social Security Administration, 1880–present). Pink marker = peak year.

SSA data updated May 2026. How we source & verify this data.

History & Origin

Yakima takes its name from the Yakama people of the Columbia Plateau and from the river, valley, and city in central Washington named for them. Used as a girl's given name, it appears in United States birth records from the early 1970s, reaching a modest high around 1980. It was never common, given to only a couple dozen girls a year even at its peak.

A girl named Yakima at that high point would be in her forties now, placing the name in a wave of place-inspired American names of the 1970s and 1980s. It reads as regional and heritage-tied rather than trend-driven, and it has not entered the mainstream revival of vintage names; parents who choose it usually do so for a real Pacific Northwest connection.

Did you know? Yakima carries the name of the Yakama Nation of the Columbia Plateau, so it lands on a birth certificate as geography and heritage at once rather than as an ordinary word-name.
Overall data confidence 50%
References - Yakima — Place and heritage name from the Yakama Nation and Yakima, Washington; treated as geographic/heritage given name

Variations

Yakama

Nicknames

YakiKimaMia

Famous Bearers

  • Famous bearers coming soon.

If you like Yakima…

Cheyenne— another Native American place-and-heritage girls' name
Sierra— a like geographic girls' name of the period
Savannah— a place-derived girls' name with the same warm ending
Sonoma— shares Yakima's Native American roots
Wynema— shares the -ma ending

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Frequently Asked

What does the name Yakima mean?

It is a place-and-heritage name from the Yakama people and the river, valley, and city in Washington State named for them, rather than an ordinary word with a fixed meaning.

How do you pronounce Yakima?

It's said YAK-ih-mah /ˈjæk.ɪ.mɑ/, three syllables, stress on the first.

Is Yakima a boy or girl name?

Yakima has been used as a girl's name in United States records.

How popular is Yakima?

It has always been rare, a place-inspired name given to only a couple dozen girls a year even at its peak in the early eighties.

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