York

Spellings & scripts●(measured from records)

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records, and ○ marks a model's transliteration; click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●(measured from records)

Attested in 1 language in the etymology graph.

Other names spelled this way◐(inferred from the name graph)

York is also recorded as 5 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Spanish name17 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Mexico, Peru, Italy, France

  Languages: Spanish, Italian, French

  Also written Iorque, Yörk, Yórk, Yöřk, Ÿork

• a separate name2 spellings in the group

  Also written Yorḳ

• Sinhala given name3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Sri Lanka, Malaysia

  Also written Yok, යෝක්

• Russian surname43 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Russia, Czechia, Poland, Croatia

  Languages: Russian, Czech, Polish

  Also written Ерк, Йорк, Иорк, Yorke, Iork

• English given name14 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Malaysia, United States, Australia, Singapore

  Languages: English, Korean, Chinese

  Also written Yoke, Yoq, 요크, Ýôkê, Yökë

59 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●(measured from records)

York is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• Transferred use of the surname, which E NNE YARROW YASM| originated as a local name from the city in north-eastern England. The place name was originally Eburacon, a derivative of a Welsh word meaning ‘yew’. The Anglo-Saxon settlers changed this to Old English Eoforwic ‘boar farm’, which in Old Norse became Jorvik or Iork. There has probably also been some influence from ) Yorick.

  as a name·A concise dictionary of first names

• to a fictitious author named Diedrich Knickerbocker. By the late 1850s the term had also come to denote a type of loose breeches gathered below the knee, evidently because of the resemblance of the garment to the breeches of the Dutchmen in Cruikshank’s illustrations to Irving’s book.

  as a name·Dictionary of American Family Names

• In English, England, or perhaps in some cases regional name from the county of Yorkshire. The surname is now widespread throughout England. Originally, the town bore the Brit, name Eburdcum, which probably meant ‘yew-tree place’.

  as a name·The Oxford Names Companion - The definitive guide to Surnames, First Names, and Place Names of the British Isles

• In Hindi, City area; more than 30,000 live within fifty miles of New York

  as a name·A Genealogists Guide to Indian Names A Reference for First Names from India

• In English, to bowl a yorker at a batsman, especially to get a batsman out in this way.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Notable people with this name●(measured from records)

• York Bowenb. 1884GBEnglish composer and pianist (1884-1961)
• Alvin Yorkb. 1887USUnited States Army Medal of Honor recipient (1887-1964)
• Dick Yorkb. 1928USAmerican radio, stage, film, and television actor (1928-1992)
• Francine Yorkb. 1936USAmerican actress, showgirl (1936–2017)
• Susannah Yorkb. 1939GBEnglish film, stage and television actress (1939–2011)
• Michael Yorkb. 1942GBBritish actor
• Philippa Yorkb. 1958GBScottish sport cyclist and journalist
• Taylor Yorkb. 1989USAmerican guitarist
• Morgan Yorkb. 1993USAmerican actress, singer, songwriter and writer
• Kathleen Yorkb. 2000USAmerican actress and singer-songwriter

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●(measured from records)

Register rows as of the 2026-10-09 data build.

Frequently asked questions

What does the name York mean, and where does it come from?

from York; first attested Ernisius de Eboraco a1160 YCh Recorded by A Dictionary of English Surnames.

How common is the name York?

In the United States, the national register counted 53,059 people named York in 2010, about 1 in 6.3 thousand residents.

In which country does York have the most bearers?

In the United States, the national register counted about 53 thousand people named York, more than in any other country we hold, where it is most often spelled york.