Yannis is a distinctive choice, ranked #2440 in 2025. Your child is likely to be the only Yannis in their class.
💎
UK Rank 2025
#2440
Ad
About the Name Yannis
Yannis has seen a notable decline in recent years, dropping 544 places in five years. It was most popular in 2015 at #903 — parents choosing it today are making a deliberately counter-trend decision. The name has been a consistent presence in UK records since 1996.
Yannis is rare in the UK, so your child is very likely to be the only Yannis in their class.
⭐ Famous People Named Yannis
Yannis Vasilis — Yannis Vasilis Yaylalı, born İbrahim Yaylalı, is a former Turkish nationalist, turned Turkish-Greek pacifist and activist, promoting and defending Greek heritage in Turkey.
Yannis Lawson — Yannis Lawson is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a defender for Metz.
Yannis Kari — Yannis Kari is a professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for the Championnat National 2 club Fréjus Saint-Raphaël.
Biographical summaries are shortened from Wikipedia and are used under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence; those summaries remain available under that same licence.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about the name Yannis
Unlikely. With around 9 UK babies named Yannis per year, your child will almost certainly be the only Yannis in their class, and possibly the only one in the whole school.
Yannis is declining: down 1,389 places since 2020, to #2,440 in 2025. It peaked at #903 in 2015.
Yannis is a distinctive choice sitting outside the mainstream UK top names. Parents choosing less common names often find their children appreciate the individuality as they grow up, rarely needing to add an initial to distinguish themselves.
Notable people named Yannis include: Yannis Vasilis, Yannis Lawson and Yannis Kari. Short summaries for each appear below.
Yannis does not appear in the US top 1,000 baby names, making it a distinctively British choice — your child is unlikely to encounter American Yanniss in the wild.
9
UK babies named Yannis (2025)
< 1
Expected classmates with this name (class of 28)
~0.0
In a school of 600
↓ 1389 places
Rank change (last 5 years)
🏫 Who else is in the room?
In a typical UK class of 28, highlighted children share the name Yannis
Almost certainly the only Yannis in the class
Ad
UK Popularity (1996–2025)
Rank and birth count · ONS official data
No US data available for this name
✨ Similar names to Yannis
Names with a similar style — each with their own classroom story
Yannis Vasilis Yaylalı, born İbrahim Yaylalı, is a former Turkish nationalist, turned Turkish-Greek pacifist and activist, promoting and defending Greek heritage in Turkey.
Yannis Tsarouchis was a Greek modernist painter and set designer who achieved international fame, and was "known in particular for his homoerotic subjects," including soldiers, sailors, and nude males.
Yiannis Makriyiannis, born Ioannis Triantaphyllou (Ιωάννης Τριανταφύλλου, Iōánnēs Triantafýllou), was a Greek merchant, military officer, politician and author, best known today for his Memoirs.