Yair
From Hebrew, built on the verb for giving light: he enlightens, he shines. Just 168 people in Poland carry it, all of them men, so most Poles will never meet one.
Yair Pronunciation
Yair is pronounced ih-AH-eer (/ɨˈair/).
What Yair means
Where Yair comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Yair is a Hebrew name built on the verb for giving light. The old sense is direct: he enlightens, he shines. No diminutive softens it and no variant trails behind it. The name stands as one word.
The Book of Judges records a bearer named Jair, a leader from Gilead who judged Israel for twenty-two years (Judges 10:3). The Hebrew there uses the same root that sits inside Yair. For centuries Jewish families kept the name in use, plain and unshortened.
In 2022 Yair Lapid served as prime minister of Israel, which put the old word for light back in the newspapers. On a Polish class register the name would stand out among the Jakubs and Antonis. A teacher reading it aloud meets four letters and one meaning: he shines.
How many people are named Yair
1 in 127061 men in Poland is named Yair. 168 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #2482 among male names.
Yair's popularity over time
Fewer than 2 boys were given the name in 2025. It has been stable for a decade.
Yair as a middle name
Yair is a first name for 168 men in Poland and a middle name for another 33, an 84/16 split. In the men's middle-name ranking it sits 1463rd, between Wilibald (33) and Albeiro (32).
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#1461 Tzvi33
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#1462 Wilibald33
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#1463 Yair33
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#1464 Albeiro32
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#1465 Ata32