Zachary
Feminine · “the Lord has remembered”
Zachary is given to boys far more often — 551,752 boys against 1,529 girls since 1880. See Zachary as a boy name
Zachary is the English form of a Hebrew name that appears in scripture attached to several different men, and it was carried into the American presidency by a general who had, by his own account, never voted in an election before the one he won. He was not even certain which party he belonged to until shortly before he was nominated.
How old is the name Zachary?
Zachary first appears in US birth records in 1960 — 65 years ago. The typical Zachary alive today was born around 1990, making them about 35 years old. About 1,500 people named Zachary are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Zachary most popular?
Zachary peaked in 1988, reaching #1354 nationally. See the whole 1988 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From A Hebrew sentence-name about divine remembrance to Zachary
The story of Zachary
Zachary Taylor spent forty years in the army, fought in three wars, owned a plantation, and had no political record whatever, which was precisely why he was nominated: a party looking for a candidate nobody could object to found a man with no positions to object to. He said he had never voted, partly because he was posted somewhere different every few years and partly because he did not think a serving officer should. He won, served sixteen months, and died. There was also a Zachary who was pope in the eighth century, the last of Greek origin, who is chiefly remembered for a diplomatic mission in which he persuaded a Lombard king to give back territory he had taken, apparently by talking to him for a very long time.
Meaning
the Lord has remembered
A Hebrew sentence-name joining a verb about remembering with a short form of the divine name, and the reading is settled. The English form arrives through Greek and Latin, which is why the ending looks Latin rather than Hebrew. Several distinct men in scripture carry it, and the English tradition has generally treated them as sharing one name rather than distinguishing the spellings as the Hebrew does.
How the name formed
- A Hebrew sentence-name about divine remembrance
- Through Greek and Latin into the European languages
- Zachary in English from the medieval period
- Widely used in America from the later twentieth century
Related forms: Zecharyah · Zaccaria · Zacarias · Zacharie
Pronouncing Zachary
ZAK-uh-ree
Three syllables with the stress on the first. The ch spells a k, following the Greek letter it represents, which is why the short form is so often written with a k instead: the spelling removes a genuine ambiguity.
Nicknames for Zachary
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
- 1960
- Most girls named
- 1988105 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1354reached in 1988
- Change vs 2019
- −16.7%5 in 2022, from 6
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.
Zachary in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Zecharyah in Hebrew — same name
- Zaccaria in Italian — same name
- Zacarias in Spanish — same name
- Zacharie in French — same name
Zacharys among us
people named Zachary are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Zachary sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- It is completely familiar, universally spellable and has never needed explaining.
- Zach is immediate and works from the first day of school.
- It carries a real Hebrew meaning that can be told in six words.
- Zachery and Zackary are both in circulation and yours will be written as one of them.
- It is closely tied to one American generation, more so than its age suggests.
- The spelling is on the register for girls as well, in very small numbers.
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What they receive
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Zachary
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Zacharys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,500 people named Zachary are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Zachary in 2025?
- Zachary is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Zachary with classmates?
- Zachary will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More Z names
The most-given names starting with Z, all years combined.
Zoe#31 · Zoey#69 · Zara#212 · Zuri#328 · Zelma#6838 · Zelda#832 · Zariah#449 · Zella#1733
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Zachary? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Zachary and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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