Given name

Yair

“God will teach”

Yair is used as a given name. One Hebrew interpretation is “God will teach.”

Meaning & origin

What it means

One Hebrew interpretation is “God will teach.”

Where it comes from

An origin associated with this spelling is Hebrew.

How it developed

From Hebrew יַאִיר.

Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The story

Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1976. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.

From dated birth records

Yair through the years

Babies since 1880
5,042
5,042 boys · 0 girls
Most popular year
2006
311 babies
2025
124
#1,450 for boys
2021–25 vs 2016–20
−7%
Steady
050100150200198020002025Highest share 200673
Yair in U.S. Social Security birth records, 1976–2025, per million boys born. Years with fewer than five births for a sex are not published and appear as zero. Use the arrow keys to step through years.

Where it’s given

Most at home inMaryland, Illinois, New Jersey
FewerMore, relative to births Not published
2025 births by state of birth. Tiles are equal-sized so small states stay visible. Highest rates: Maryland (6), Illinois (10), New Jersey (5), Georgia (6), Texas (20).

By the numbers

In 2025, this name appeared in 124 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 1,450 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 6.7% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 311 in 2006. In 2025, California and Texas shared the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (20 each). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 4,382 as a first name in 2020.

From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.

Yair’s family of names

In English usage, Yair shares an earlier linguistic root with Jair. Yair has a related form in Yaire. Yair has a related form in Yaer.

Walk Yair’s family in the name graph

YairYaireYaereYaerYayreYayrJairYaïr

Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.

Hover or tab through the constellation to see how each name is related. Bigger dots are names more people in the U.S. share.

Nicknames & forms 5

Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.

Across languages 2

Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.

Similar names

If you love Yair, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.

Hebrew · Modern

Jezreel

“The Lord provides”

20RareEasing

76% boys · 24% girls

Hebrew · Modern

Addai

Addai is a masculine given name. It is used in Italian.

0Not recently recordedCooling

>99% boys

Hebrew · Modern

Abdias

“servant of God”

30RareSteady

>99% boys

Hebrew · Modern

Oseias

Oseias is a masculine given name from Hebrew. It is used in Portuguese.

29RareEasing

>99% boys

Hebrew · Modern

Calebe

“dog”

11Very rare

>99% boys

Hebrew · Modern

Yousaf

Yousaf is a surname from Urdu, ultimately from Hebrew.

17Very rareRising

>99% boys

Hebrew · Modern

Younus

Younus is a surname from Arabic, ultimately from Hebrew.

21RareRising fast

>99% boys

Hebrew · Modern

Refael

Refael is a masculine given name from Hebrew. It is used in Asturian.

24RareRising

>99% boys

Sibling ideas

Names that share Yair’s feel without repeating its first letter or rhyming with it.

A brother for Yair