Zac
Masculine · “the Lord has remembered”
Zac is the short form of Zachary, and Zachary is Hebrew: the Lord has remembered. It has been used on its own for long enough that it no longer requires the longer name behind it.
How old is the name Zac?
Zac first appears in US birth records in 1957 — 68 years ago. The typical Zac alive today was born around 2012, making them about 13 years old. About 1,600 people named Zac are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Zac most popular?
Zac peaked in 2010, reaching #1778 nationally. Today it ranks #3181, 1,403 places below that high. See the whole 2010 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Zekharyah to Zac
The story of Zac
Zechariah is a common name in the Hebrew Bible — a prophet, a king of Israel and many others — and it passed into Greek and Latin as Zacharias. English shortened it to Zachary in the Middle Ages, and Americans shortened that again to Zach and Zac in the twentieth century. The two spellings divide roughly along national lines, with Zac more common in Britain and Australia and Zach more common in the United States.
Meaning
the Lord has remembered
From Hebrew Zekharyah, built on the verb to remember and a form of the divine name; the prophet Zechariah and the father of John the Baptist both carry it.
How the name formed
- Zekharyah
- Zacharias
- Zachary
- Zac
Related forms: Zach · Zechariah · Zacarías · Zaccaria
Pronouncing Zac
ZAK
One syllable. Zac and Zach are said identically.
Nicknames for Zac
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1957
- Most boys named
- 201484 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1778reached in 2010
- Change vs 2024
- +5.7%37 in 2025, from 35
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Zac in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Zach in English — spelling variant
- Zechariah in Hebrew — related form
- Zacarías in Spanish — related form
- Zaccaria in Italian — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, New York, Florida.
Zacs among us
people named Zac are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 46,164 born in 2025 was named Zac
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Zac
- #3181
- Zac on the 2025 chart
- #754
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Zac went to 37 boys in 2025, but Zack and Zak are the same name said out loud. Together the 3 spellings went to 175, which makes it the 754th most-given boys’ name of the year — 2,427 places above the chart.
About 1 boy in 9,760 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 46,164 for Zac itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Schyler test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Zac's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Schyler climbed just as high around 1992, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Schyler's path sketches the road Zac is walking now.
Zac sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Zac is headed
Zac is easing off slowly — about 16% fewer babies a year by 2030 if the trend continues.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Zac beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Zac in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Three letters and one syllable — about as easy as a name can be to write and to say.
- A settled meaning inherited from a well-documented biblical name.
- It begins with Z, which keeps it distinct on any list.
- Zach is the more common American spelling and will be written for him regularly.
- It reads as a nickname to some people, which may matter on a formal document.
- Zack, Zach and Zac all sound the same and all appear, so the spelling is a lifelong exchange.
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What they receive
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Zac
Masculine · #3181 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Zacs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,600 people named Zac are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Zac?
- Zac is one of 3 recorded spellings. Zack is the more common one — 126 births in 2025 against 37 for Zac.
- How popular is the name Zac in 2025?
- Zac ranks #3181 among US boy names in 2025, with 37 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Zac?
- About 1 in every 46,164 US boys born in 2025 was named Zac — 37 in all.
- Will my child share the name Zac with classmates?
- Zac will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Zac
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Diamond#3181 · Walden#3181 · Tobin#3181 · Keion#3181 · Artem#3181 · Arsh#3181 · Kris#3181 · Esau#3181
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Zac? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Zac and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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