Yvonne
- Gender
- Female
- Meaning
- Archer
- Origin
- French
About the Name Yvonne
Yvonne is a French feminine name, the feminine form of Yvon or Yves, which derive from the Old French and Germanic element iv — related to the yew tree (if in Old French, from Germanic iwa). The yew was associated in Celtic and Germanic tradition with archers, as yew wood was the preferred material for longbows, which gives the name its traditional gloss of "archer." Yvonne carries a distinctly French elegance — the silent final e, the initial Y, and the soft nasal vowel all mark it as unmistakably French in origin and character.
Yvonne first entered the US Social Security top-1000 in 1935 and peaked just two years later in 1937 at rank #77 — a rapid ascent that coincided with a mid-twentieth-century fashion for French feminine names in American use. It maintained a long presence on the charts, last appearing in 2002 at rank #938 with 239 births, and accumulated nearly 12,000 top-1000 births across its tracked span. The name's longevity on the charts through the end of the twentieth century reflects its enduring association with French sophistication.
For parents drawn to French names with genuine etymological depth and a graceful, slightly formal sound, Yvonne offers a choice that feels both timeless and distinctive. Its sole recorded variant is Yvette, the other major French feminine form of the same root, which enjoyed its own separate chart history.
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration name data, 1880–2024 (methodology). By Marvin Tang.
Quick Facts About Yvonne
US Popularity History (1935–2002)
Annual US births named Yvonne by gender, from US Social Security Administration records. Peak year: 1937 with 3,171 girls named Yvonne (girl rank #77 that year).
Where it stands today: in 2002, ranked #938 for girls (239 US births). That's 861 places below its 1937 peak.
Source: US Social Security Administration. Limitations: US birth-certificate data only; names appearing fewer than 5 times in a given year are suppressed for privacy; spelling variants are counted separately. For names that ranked outside the US top 100 before year 2000, only the years they reached the top 100 are shown — the chart may have gaps for less-popular historical names.
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Variant Forms
| Name | Meaning | Gender | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yvette | Archer; Yew Wood | Female | French |
Looking for names like Yvonne?
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Compare Yvonne to Other Popular Names
Side-by-side popularity charts and crossover years for Yvonne against today's most popular girls-name peers (top 8 by US births in the last 10 years of SSA records).