Yon

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Yeon in CA Canada, NL Netherlands, CN China and 2 more, Yan in HK Hong Kong and Yoen in CR Costa Rica.

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

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 5 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Yon is also recorded as 6 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Spanish surname28K records spelled Yon10 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Peru, United States, Guatemala, Mexico

  Languages: Spanish, Portuguese

  Also written Yón, Yön, Yoñ, Ÿön, Ýòņ

• Malay surname7.4K records spelled Yon5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Malaysia, Indonesia, United States, Peru

  Languages: Malay, Indonesian

  Also written Yön, Yôn

• a separate surname3.5K records spelled Yon5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, Canada, China

  Also written Yön, Yō̜n, Yŏn, Yōn

• Khmer surname1.5K records spelled Yon5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Cambodia, Spain, China

  Also written Ýō់ňី, Ýōńី, Ýō់ňូ, Ÿិōń

• Japanese surname896 records spelled Yon3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Japan, South Africa, Italy

  Also written Yön, Ÿoñ

• Thai given name746 records spelled Yon140 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Thailand, United States, Laos, Malaysia

  Languages: Thai, Lao, Malay

  Also written Jean, ยูนุ, ยูนุ๊, Yeen, Yin

51 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●

Yon 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.

• Flor de loto

  as a name·25,000 nombres de bebé. La mejor guía para escoger el nombre adecuado

• In otk, pec. to Uyğ.; the contexts suggest some such meaning as 'efficacity' of medical remedies

  as a word·Clauson, An Etymological Dictionary of Pre-Thirteenth-Century Turkish (1972)

• In sco, that, those, yonder (indicating a person or thing at some distance in time or space usually more remote than that)

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

• ISO 639-3 language code for Yongkom.

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

• In okg, you; second-person singular pronoun

  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.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 13 years between 1960–2004. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Yeon Taejob. 553not in their usual namePrime Minister of Goguryeo
• Yeon Gaesomunb. 603not in their usual nameGoguryeo military dictator (603–666)
• Yeon Namsaengb. 634not in their usual nameMilitary dictator
• Yon Hyong-mukb. 1931KP7th Premier of North Korea (1931-2005)
• Yeon Sang-hob. 1978KRnot in their usual nameSouth Korean film director and screenwriter
• Yeon Jung-hoonb. 1978KRnot in their usual nameSouth Korean actor
• Yeon Woo-jinb. 1984KRnot in their usual nameSouth Korean actor
• Yeon Song-hab. 1984KRnot in their usual nameSouth Korean actress
• Yeon Jei-minb. 1993KRnot in their usual nameSouth Korean association football player
• Yeon Joon-seokb. 1995KRnot in their usual nameSouth Korean actor

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●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 212 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Yon?

We estimate roughly 52 thousand people bear Yon (counting its spellings and scripts) across 13 countries in our records.

In which country does Yon have the most bearers?

We estimate about 35 thousand people bear Yon in South Korea, more than in any other country in our records, where it is most often spelled yon.

How common is Yon compared with other names?

In South Korea, Yon is the 77th most common surname of 14,083 surnames recorded there.

What does the name Yon mean?

Recorded meaning: Distant, but within sight; (that thing) just over there.