The Story of my Son’s Name - JAIRUS

The Search for my Son’s Name

When I found out my husband and I would be having a boy, the search for his name began. My husband didn’t have any specific passions for naming our son, so he really let me lead the effort. 

My husband’s reaction finding out we were having a boy.

When I thought about what I wanted for our son and future children, it was to have powerful names that also reflect their ethnic identity. Me, being 50% Polish and 50% Ashkenazi Jewish, and my husband being 100% African American, meant we either name our first child after me or after my husband. My husband agreed to allow our first child to be named after me! My name is Jessica so I wanted our son’s name to start with a J as well. When I started researching names, I looked up Hebrew, Polish, and Lithuanian names (Lithuania is where my parents are from 🇱🇹). When my parents lived in their homeland though, it was the Soviet Union so they largely lost their native tongues because it was replaced with Russian. So finding Lithuanian and Polish names didn’t seem authentic to me. I grew up speaking Russian but we’re not Russian- I didn’t want a Russian name. I also identify more as a Jew than as a Polish person so it seemed right to pursue a Hebrew name. I also took some Hebrew in college and studied it on my own, so it was more up my alley. Being a Christian too and loving Jesus and his legacy and history, and my own as a Jew, I wanted to find my son’s name from the Bible itself.

I began searching online for Hebrew J names but also any J names. Eventually, I came across Jairus. I looked up the story of Jairus in the Bible, and I thought, “Wow. This was a man of faith. I want my son to have strong faith and be a man of faith.” I brought it up to my husband and he liked it, so that’s what we named our son! 

Who Was Jairus? 
Now y’all, I got to say it is a bit funny when I’m talking to a Christian or at church and someone learns our son’s name and says, “Wow... that’s a very unique name. Where is that from?” ... and then I awkwardly say, “The Bible,” and then they usually say, “Ohhh really? In the Old Testament right?” Then I say, “No... the New.” 😂 Now of course nobody perfectly knows the Bible and I really don’t expect most Christians to know the name Jairus, but it does make me laugh a little on the inside when someone thinks we made up a name, but in reality it’s a very powerful situation that happened with Jesus, Jairus, and Jairus’s daughter. So... who was Jairus? Let’s just take it straight from the Bible, folks. 

Mark 5:21-25, 35-43

“And  when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about him, and  he was beside the sea. 22 Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet 23 and implored him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.” 24 And he went with him.

*on the way to his house, Jesus heals a woman who had been bleeding for 12 years.

35 While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler's house some who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?” 36 But overhearing[a] what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” 37 And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter and James and John the brother of James. 38 They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus[b] saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. 39 And when he had entered, he said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.” 40 And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside and took the child's father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was.41 Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” 42 And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement. 43 And he strictly charged them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.” 

What stood out to me about Jairus was: he was Jewish, a man of faith, and he loved his daughter and family fiercely. Then when I looked up his name, I learned what it meant. 

What Does Jairus Mean?
Jairus originates from Hebrew. In Hebrew, the word Yair (pronounced Yah-ear) means “He will illuminate” or “He enlightens.” In Hebrew with added pronunciation, it’s spelled יָאִיר Hebrew has no vowels so you just have to know how to pronounce the letters- and what emphasis to add and where, but Yair in Hebrew above adds the pronunciation. Hebrew is read from right to left. Yair has come to have variations- Ya’ir and Jair, which are all names people give their kids. Yair can be a common Hispanic name or a name someone might give their son in Israel. The New Testament got translated into Greek so the Greek variation of Jair became Jairus. In Biblical Greek- Ιαειρος (pronounced Y-I-ROOS). 

Here’s a little more about the explanation of the name from a website:

"The name Jair — and thus the name Jairus — comes from the root-verb אור ('or), meaning to be light or to shine:

The root-verb אור ('or) means to be light or to give light; shine. The Bible uses this verb in all the expectable ways (sunlight, daylight etc) but often also metaphorically. Many Biblical light-metaphors have been incorporated into our own language, such as the light of understanding or wisdom. Even a lit-up face comes from the Bible (Job 29:24, Numbers 6:25, Ecclesiastes 8:1).

This verb's derivatives are:

• The masculine noun אור ('or), meaning light. Like the verb, this noun is used in all expectable ways, from the light of creation (Genesis 1:3) to the light of the sun (Isaiah 30:6), the light of instruction (Proverbs 6:23), the light of one's face (Proverbs 16:15), and the light of God (Psalm 4:6, Isaiah 10:17)."

Jairus's face truly does shine. He is a beautiful ray of gold. Here he is at two months old.

Once Again, The Biblical Story of Jairus

"There's only one man named Jairus in the Bible. He is the temple official who comes up to Jesus, pleading for his twelve year old daughter's life (Mark 5:22, Luke 8:41). When Jesus begins to follow him to his house, a woman stops them. She has been sick for as long as Jairus' daughter has lived, and during that time doctors have winged her out of her money without curing her. She heals spontaneously when she touches Jesus' garments, and Jesus and she enter a brief conversation. While this is going on, Jairus' daughter passes away.

Jesus and Jairus, and Peter, James and John enter Jairus' house and find people loudly wailing. But when Jesus says that the child is only sleeping, they suddenly aren't too sad to laugh. Jesus forces them out, takes Jairus and his wife to the girl's room, and tells her, "Talitha kum". And she awakes.

Although the Greek name Jairus occurs only once, it is the Greek version of the Hebrew name Jair — and there are three men by that name in the Old Testament." Click for source

How Do you Pronounce Jairus?
This is controversial in a way, and pronunciations vary. Some say: JAY-I-RUS (long a and then long i). This is what we've learned is a popular pronunciation in black churches. Some say JAY-RUS (jay like a blue jay). Others say JEH-RUS. I think this is the most common pronunciation. A lot of times people have thought we're saying Jarvis, but we're not.

The way we choose to pronounce it is JIE-RUS (long i like in pie). JIE-RUS. JAIRUS. The reason for this is because that's how it reads in my mind when I see the name. Also, the other pronunciations are not Hebrew-sounding so there's not necessarily a "right" Hebrew way to say the name. If I were to say it more in Hebrew, it would be "Ya-ear-us." The "ear" part isn't pronounced like in English- there's some air added as Hebrew is a guttural language. Now Jairus is the name Yair in the Greek, which is pronounced Iaeírou (Y-I (long i)- ROO). We might not be technically pronouncing it correctly because we don't pronounce it in the Greek, but we pronounce the name in the way that we read it in our mind (in both Hebrew and Greek, the name is pronounced with a vowel and doesn't actually make a "j" sound. In Spanish, a "j" makes an "h" sound. The J is just there, but we choose to pronounce it). So, the way we pronounce it is how we've chosen to stuck with it, folks! That's the history of our son's name for you. I love his amazing name.

JAIRUS = GOD ENLIGHTENS (physically and spiritually)

May God continue to enlighten Jairus with wisdom, and may Jairus enlighten others by the wisdom he receives from God. He is also a magnificent light in this world- a true beam of joy! He has enlightened my life with his beautiful face- adding pure joy. He has also enlightened me internally- through all that I've learned emotionally and spiritually since the moment he turned me into a mother.

Love,
Jessica

Me and my beautiful son.