The meaning of the name Yadkin is unknown.

The Yadkin probably belonged to the Siouan linguistic family.

The Yadkin Indians lived primarily on the Yadkin River in present-day North Carolina.

The Yadkin first appear in history in a letter by the Indian trader, Abraham Wood, narrating the adventures of two men, James Needham and Gabriel Arthur, whom he had sent on an exploring expedition to the west. They passed this tribe and town, which they call "Yattken," in the summer of 1674.

Lawson (1701) gives the name as Reatkin but applied it to the river, and there is no later mention of the people.

Their name Yadkin is perpetuated by the Yadkin River, Yadkin County, and the towns and villages of Yadkin College, Yadkin Falls, Yadkin Valley, and Yadkinville, all in the state of North Carolina.