Yamaguchi JapaneseFrom Japanese
山 (yama) meaning "mountain" and
口 (kuchi) meaning "mouth, entrance". Olympic figure-skating champion Kristi Yamaguchi (1971-) bears this name.
Yap EnglishFrom a nickname for a clever or cunning person, from Middle English
yap meaning
"devious, deceitful, shrewd".
Yasuda JapaneseFrom Japanese
安 (yasu) meaning "peace, quiet" or
保 (yasu) meaning "protect, maintain" and
田 (ta) meaning "field, rice paddy".
Yates EnglishFrom Old English
geat meaning
"gate", a name for a gatekeeper or someone who lived near a gate.
Yokota JapaneseFrom Japanese
横 (yoko) meaning "beside, next to" and
田 (ta) meaning "field, rice paddy".
York EnglishFrom the name of the English city of York, which was originally called
Eburacon (Latinized as
Eboracum), meaning "yew" in Brythonic. In the Anglo-Saxon period it was corrupted to
Eoforwic, based on Old English
eofor "boar" and
wic "village". This was rendered as
Jórvík by the Vikings and eventually reduced to
York.
Young EnglishDerived from Old English
geong meaning
"young". This was a descriptive name to distinguish father from son.
Yoxall EnglishOriginally indicated a person from the town of Yoxall in Staffordshire, itself derived from Old English
geoc "oxen yoke" and
halh "nook, recess".
Yu 1 ChineseFrom Chinese
于 (yú) meaning
"in, on, at". According to legend, King Wu of Zhou bestowed the realm of Yu to his second son, who subsequently adopted this as his surname.
Yu 4 ChineseFrom Chinese
虞 (yú) meaning
"concerned, anxious" and also referring to the ancient state of Yu, which was situated in what is now Shanxi province.
Yūki JapaneseFrom Japanese
結 (yū) meaning "tie, bind" and
城 (ki) meaning "castle".
Yun KoreanFrom Sino-Korean
尹 (yun) meaning
"govern, oversee".