Yesenia
Yesenia was the 1901st most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 103 babies. Its best year was 1987, when it ranked 137th with 2,003 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved down 585 places. More babies were named Yesenia in the 1990s than in any other decade.
Meaning Origin not documented · Spanish
Say it yeh-SEN-ee-uh /jɛˈsɛniə/
- Rank in 2025
- #1,901 girls, down 417 places since 2020
- Babies in 2025
- 103girls
- Girls and boys
- Almost always a girl’s name2021–2025
- Peak year
- 19872,003 babies
- Total since 1880
- 39,781babies recorded
What does the name Yesenia mean?
Yesenia is a modern Spanish name created for fiction. It is the heroine of a Mexican romance comic by Yolanda Vargas Dulché, adapted as a 1970 telenovela and remade in 1987; Spanish Wikipedia dates the comic's use of the title to 1965, while Wiktionary dates the name to the 1970 series. Wiktionary says the name was taken from Jessenia, the botanical name of a South American palm. It has no older meaning as a personal name. In the US Yesenia was most popular in the late 1980s.
Jessenia (Botanical Latin, “genus name of a South American palm (per Wiktionary)”)
How sure is this? Probable. The fictional origin is documented; the derivation from the palm name Jessenia rests on Wiktionary alone.
Pronunciation: Spanish: yeh-SEH-nyah.
Related names: Jessenia, Yessenia, Yesena.
See also: Spanish names.
Sources for this meaning
- Wiktionary, entry 'Yesenia', Wiktionary (Wikimedia Foundation)
- Wikipedia (Spanish), 'Yesenia (historieta)', Wikipedia (Wikimedia Foundation)
- Wikipedia, 'Yesenia (1987 TV series)', Wikipedia (Wikimedia Foundation)
Yesenia popularity since 1880
A few boys are given the name too: 314 since 1974.
| Year | Rank (girls) | Babies (girls) |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #1,901 | 103 |
| 2020 | #1,484 | 145 |
| 2010 | #704 | 407 |
| 2000 | #248 | 1,294 |
| 1990 | #156 | 1,923 |
| 1980 | #426 | 509 |
| 1970 | #2,575 | 29 |
| 1960 | — | — |
| 1950 | — | — |
| 1940 | — | — |
| 1930 | — | — |
| 1920 | — | — |
| 1910 | — | — |
| 1900 | — | — |
| 1890 | — | — |
| 1880 | — | — |
How popular is Yesenia, counting every spelling?
Yesenia is the most common spelling of a name family that ranked #1,528 for girls in 2025 once every spelling is counted together, compared with #1,901 for Yesenia on its own. Together these spellings went to 121 girls in 2025.
| Spelling | Babies 2025 | Official rank | Babies 2021–2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yesenia | 103 | #1,901 | 604 |
| Yessenia | 18 | #6,536 | 151 |
Spellings count together when they sound the same in American English and are used for the same sex; nicknames and forms that sound different (such as Theo and Theodore) are kept apart. How we group spellings.
How many kids will share the name Yesenia?
103 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Yesenia (0.03 per 1,000 births). For a girl named Yesenia born in 2025, the chance that another child with the same name is in a class of 20 children the same age is under 1 in 50. If every grade liked the name as much as the 2025 babies do, only about one elementary school in 81 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Yesenia.
Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.
How old are people named Yesenia?
About 38,600 people born in the US named Yesenia are alive today, with a median age of 32; half are between 25 and 38. That makes Yesenia mostly worn by adults in their thirties to fifties.
Babies given the name each year (SSA) times the share of that birth year still alive (SSA life tables). Counts people born in the US only. Method.
Yesenia by state
How common Yesenia was among girls born in each state in 2021–2025. It is notably more common than nationally in California (2.0×), Texas (1.6×). In 36 states fewer than five girls a year got the name, too few for SSA to publish, so those states show as zero.
Names with a similar history
These names rose and fell in step with Yesenia: their share of US girls followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Yesenia, they share its era and feel.
Middle names for Yesenia · Sibling names for Yesenia
Questions about the name Yesenia
What does Yesenia mean?
The origin of Yesenia is uncertain: the fictional origin is documented; the derivation from the palm name Jessenia rests on Wiktionary alone.
How popular is the name Yesenia?
Yesenia was the 1901st most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 103 babies. Its best year was 1987, when it ranked 137th with 2,003 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved down 585 places. More babies were named Yesenia in the 1990s than in any other decade.
Is Yesenia a boy or girl name?
In 2021–2025, almost always a girl’s name given the name Yesenia in the US.
Where is Yesenia most popular?
In 2021–2025, Yesenia was most common in California (0.15 per 1,000 girls), followed by Colorado and Arizona.