Yair
Hebrew name meaning "he will enlighten" or "he will illuminate".
Name Census estimates that about 4,863 living Americans carry the first name Yair. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Yair today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Yair births was 2006 (311 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Yair. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Yair with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Yair is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 16 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
4.9K
~ 1 in 70,482 Americans
Peak year
2006
311 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,407
Tracked since 1976
Census
Yair in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,382 people with the first name Yair, which placed it at #4,321 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#4,321
National first-name rank
People counted
4.4K
4,382 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
80.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Yair
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yair is Hispanic at 80.1%. The next largest groups are White (17.9%) and Black (1.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Yair described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Yair at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino80.1% · 3,512
- White17.9% · 786
- Black or African American1.2% · 52
- Two or more races0.4% · 16
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.0% · 2
Popularity
Yair: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Yair from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 2,133 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Yair remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Yair by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Yair during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Yairs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 27 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Yair, while Oklahoma, Minnesota, Michigan recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 132 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Yair
The name Yair is of Hebrew origin, derived from the biblical Hebrew word "ya'ir," which means "he enlightens" or "he shines." This name has its roots in ancient Israelite culture and can be traced back to the Old Testament period.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Yair appears in the Book of Numbers, where it refers to a descendant of the tribe of Manasseh. In the biblical account, Yair is described as a man who conquered several towns in the region of Gilead and named them after himself.
Throughout Jewish history, the name Yair has been associated with various notable individuals. One of the most prominent figures bearing this name was Yair Bacharach, a prominent 17th-century German rabbi and scholar who wrote extensively on Jewish law and ethics.
Another notable bearer of the name was Yair Lapid, an Israeli politician, journalist, and former leader of the Yesh Atid party. He served as the Minister of Finance and later as the alternate Prime Minister of Israel in the 2020s.
In the realm of literature, Yair Weinstock was an Israeli author and playwright known for his contributions to Hebrew literature in the 20th century. His works explored themes of identity, memory, and the Israeli experience.
Yair Stern, an Israeli underground fighter during the British Mandate period, played a significant role in the struggle for Jewish independence. He founded the Stern Gang, a militant Zionist organization that fought against British rule in Palestine.
Yair Sheleg, an Israeli journalist and author, has written extensively on issues related to religion, secularism, and the intersection of Judaism and modern Israeli society. His works have shed light on the complex dynamics within Israeli society.
The name Yair has maintained its significance within Jewish and Israeli communities, carrying the symbolic meaning of enlightenment and illumination. While its usage may vary across different regions and cultures, the name remains firmly rooted in its biblical and historical origins.
People
Yair + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Yair as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with Y
Other first names starting with Y with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Yair: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Yair?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,863 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Yair going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 70,482 US residents.
Is Yair a common name?
We classify Yair as "Rare". It ranks above 96.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,917 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Yair most popular?
The single biggest year for Yair was 2006, when 311 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Yair is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Yair in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,382 people with the name Yair, or 1.45 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,321 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Yair in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Yair?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Yair appears almost entirely male. Of the 4,382 people counted with this name, 99.1% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Yair?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yair is Hispanic at 80.1%. The next largest groups are White (17.9%) and Black (1.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Yair most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Yair in the 2020 Census, accounting for 80.1% (3,512 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Yair in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Yair a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Yair in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Yair still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Yair in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Yair can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many Americans are named Yair?
See how many people share the name Yair on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.