Shem Tov Boy's nameOrigin: biblicalIn Israel: falling
YairIn Hebrew: יאיר · meaning, pronunciation and popularity in Israel
With vowel points: יָאִירRomanization: ya'ír
Yair (Hebrew: יאיר) is a boy's name of biblical origin. 27,387 people born in Israel between 1949 and 2024 have it today, according to Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). In 2024 it was given to 540 boys and ranked #33. Its peak year was 2010, with 933 babies.
- People in Israel
- 27,387
- born 1949–2024
- Babies in 2024
- 540
- rank #33
- Peak year
- 2010
- 933 babies
- USA, 2025
- 124
- rank #1,443
Writing and saying Yair
In Hebrew letters the name is יאיר, read right to left. Yair is the Latin spelling recorded by our review; families choose their own spelling in passports, so you may also meet other forms. Wiktionary romanizes it as "ya'ír" (the accent marks the stressed syllable).
Meaning and origin
- a male given name, Yair, equivalent to English Jair
- Jair (a judge of Israel)
From the root א־ו־ר ('-w-r).
Quoted from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), unchanged.
Yair by year: Israel and abroad
How many boys out of every 10,000 born each year have the name. For Israel it counts the people born that year who carry the name today (the CBS counts residents by year of birth, not birth registrations).
per 10,000 babies of the same sex
Yair in English-speaking countries
| Country / region | Year | Babies | Rank | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 2025 | 124 | #1,443 | 2006 (311) |
Counts for boys. The Hebrew page for Yair has every year and the other spellings.
Related Israeli names
Spelling variants and names that look or sound close in Hebrew.
Questions about Yair
How do you write Yair in Hebrew?
Yair is written יאיר in Hebrew (with vowel points: יָאִיר). Hebrew is read right to left. A dictionary romanization is "ya'ír".
How many people in Israel are named Yair?
27,387 people born between 1949 and 2024 carry the name יאיר: 5 women and 27,382 men. The count comes from the CBS table of current first names by year of birth; years with fewer than 5 people are not published.
Is Yair a boy's or a girl's name?
In Israel it is almost always a boy's name: 100.0% of the people named יאיר are men.
What does the name Yair mean?
English Wiktionary describes it as: "a male given name, Yair, equivalent to English Jair" Etymology: From the root א־ו־ר ('-w-r).
Is Yair used outside Israel?
The name Yair appears in the official baby name lists of English-speaking countries. In the United States 124 boys were given it in 2025 (#1,443), per the Social Security Administration.
Sources
Israel: Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), current first names of people born 1949–2024 by sex, population group and year of birth, processed 2026-09-27. CBS publications.
Abroad
- United States: U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA)
Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications - National Data
Years 1880–2025 · updated 2026-04-13 · licence: Public domain (U.S. Government work) · names given to fewer than 5 babies a year are not published - England and Wales: Office for National Statistics (ONS)
Baby names in England and Wales: from 1996
Years 1996–2025 · updated 2026-07 · licence: Open Government Licence v3.0 · names given to fewer than 3 babies a year are not published
Counts are copied as published. We only merged accented spellings (Zoë = Zoe) and computed ranks and rates. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – British Columbia and the Open Government Licence – Alberta.