Zachary
Masculine · “the Lord has remembered”
Zachary is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 551,752 boys against 1,529 girls since 1880. See Zachary as a girl 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 1900 — 125 years ago. The typical Zachary alive today was born around 1997, making them about 28 years old. About 534,000 people named Zachary are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Zachary most popular?
Zachary peaked in 1994, reaching #12 nationally. Today it ranks #216, 204 places below that high. See the whole 1994 chart.
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.
Cultural footprint
Zachary Taylor (b. 1784) — War-hero president
Zachary Levi (b. 1980) — Shazam! star
Zachary Quinto (b. 1977) — Star Trek's new Spock
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
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
- 1900
- Most boys named
- 199224,802 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #12reached in 1994
- Change vs 2023
- −22.7%1,646 in 2025, from 2,128
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
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New York. International figures from Office for National Statistics, Statistics Canada. Sources
Zacharys among us
people named Zachary are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 1,038 born in 2025 was named Zachary
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Paul test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Zachary's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Paul climbed just as high around 1916, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Paul's path sketches the road Zachary is walking now.
Zachary is coming down from a big peak (#12 in 1994). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Zachary is headed
Zachary is easing off slowly — about 19% fewer babies a year by 2030 if the trend continues.
High 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.
Zachary beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Zachary in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
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
Masculine · #216 in the U.S.
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 534,000 people named Zachary are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Zachary in 2025?
- Zachary ranks #216 among US boy names in 2025, with 1,646 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Zachary?
- About 1 in every 1,038 US boys born in 2025 was named Zachary — 1,646 in all.
- Will my child share the name Zachary with classmates?
- Zachary will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Zachary
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Bentley#215 · Baker#217 · Rafael#218 · Joel#219 · Malakai#213 · Zayden#213 · Tyler#219 · Miguel#212
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; international figures from national statistics agencies. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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