# Jair (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/jair/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | Hebrew |
| Meaning | “he will light up” |
| Pronunciation | /d͡ʒaɪˈɪəɹ/, 1 syllable |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | Yahir |
| US babies named this | 7,269 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 7,258 / 11 (0% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 16, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Middle English Jair, Iair, from Ancient Greek Ἰάϊρ (Iáïr), from Biblical Hebrew יָאִיר (yāʾîr, literally “he will light up”). Doublet of Yair and Jairus.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 5 | 14,382 |
| 2002 | 6 | 14,300 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 251 | 850 |
| 2012 | 192 | 1,019 |
| 2013 | 264 | 821 |
| 2014 | 208 | 995 |
| 2015 | 199 | 1,022 |
| 2016 | 222 | 943 |
| 2017 | 179 | 1,092 |
| 2018 | 198 | 1,031 |
| 2019 | 214 | 990 |
| 2020 | 249 | 903 |
| 2021 | 238 | 949 |
| 2022 | 194 | 1,105 |
| 2023 | 208 | 1,050 |
| 2024 | 177 | 1,172 |
| 2025 | 170 | 1,193 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 4 | 3,848 |
| 2021 | 3 | 4,789 |
| 2024 | 5 | 3,688 |
| 2025 | 4 | 4,275 |

## In other languages

- Catalan: Jaire
- French: Jaïre
- Greek: Ιάειρος
- Hebrew: יַאִיר
- Italian: Giairo
- Latin: Jairus, Iaīrus
- Portuguese: Jair
- Russian: Иаи́р
- Spanish: Jairo
- Ukrainian: Яір

## People named Jair

- Jair Bolsonaro, 38th President of the Federative Republic of Brazil (2019–2023)
- Jairzinho, Brazilian footballer and manager
- Jair da Costa, Brazilian footballer (1940–2025)
- Jair da Rosa Pinto, Brazilian footballer and manager (1921-2005)
- Jair Marinho, Brazilian footballer (1936–2020)
- Jair Eduardo Britto da Silva, Brazilian association football player
- Jair Marrufo, American association football referee
- Jair Cunha, Brazilian footballer (born 2005)
- Jair Céspedes, footballer
- Jair Benítez, Colombian footballer
- Jair Pereira da Silva, Brazilian association football player
- Jair Rodrigues, Brazilian musician and singer (1939–2014)

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.