Yair is the Hebrew form of the biblical Jair and means "he will enlighten" or "he shines". In the Book of Judges, Jair was a leader of Israel for 22 years, and the name is common in Israel and among Spanish-speaking families, who pronounce it with a strong initial y. Yair entered the US top 1000 in 2003, peaked at number 706 in 2006 and has since fallen back to number 1450 in 2025.