Zachariah
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Meaning
means 'the Lord has remembered'
The story
Zachariah is the King James spelling of Zechariah, "Yahweh remembers," worn in that Bible by a king of Israel, while the prophet and the father of John the Baptist carry the other spelling. For most of the American century it was an heirloom in the attic: 50 boys in the 1920s, 25 in the 1960s. Then the 1970s happened: 1,901, a seventy-six-fold leap in a single decade. The climb held, 4,984 in the 1980s, 7,640 in the 1990s, 6,641 across the 2010s, 3,223 so far this decade. Zach comes standard, the -iah ending files it beside Josiah and Isaiah, and the meaning gives the whole thing its quiet engine: a name that promises remembering, remembered again after two hundred years.
Zachariah's name family
One shared root links 7 names in English.
Shared root: from Hebrew Zekharyah "Yahweh has remembered"
The family
More branches
How popular is Zachariah around the world?
In the United States, 3,223 babies were named Zachariah between 2020 and 2025. In South Australia, 4 boys were registered as Zachariah in 2017.
Zachariah is on the official records of the United States, South Australia, England and Wales, New Zealand, Canada, Ireland and Scotland.
United States
1 in 6,800
In the United States, 3,223 babies were named Zachariah between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Zachariah peaked in the 2010s.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
South Australia
1 in 4,6002017
In South Australia, 4 boys were registered as Zachariah in 2017.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
England and Wales
1 in 4,800
In England and Wales, 123 boys named Zachariah were born in 2025, the 346th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
New Zealand
1 in 5,800
In New Zealand, 10 boys named Zachariah were registered in 2025.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time
Canada
1 in 10,000
In Canada, 36 boys named Zachariah were born in 2024, the 738th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
Ireland
1 in 14,000
In Ireland, 4 boys named Zachariah were born in 2025, the 676th most common name among boys that year.
The count never rose above 9 in a year, too few to chart.
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
Scotland
1 in 15,000
In Scotland, 3 boys named Zachariah were registered in 2024, the 727th most common name among boys that year.
The count never rose above 7 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
Poland
last on record 2013
Zachariah is not on the 2025 record for Poland, where names given fewer than 2 times in a year are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
First names given to children born in Poland by year of birth, 2000–2025, from the PESEL population register (Ministry of Digital Affairs); exact spellings count separately (Łukasz and Lukasz are different names), names given fewer than 5 times in a year were left off the list through 2012 and fewer than 2 times from 2013, and the register also counts children born abroad, so its yearly sums run above Poland’s live births. Shares divide by the register’s own published total for the year, never by births. Source: Ministry of Digital Affairs, PESEL register (dane.gov.pl)
Not on the record in Spain, Mexico City, Argentina and Puerto Rico: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Montevideo record for 1940 to 2011: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Austria record for 1984 to 2025: Statistik Austria publishes every first name down to a single birth, so this name was not given there in those years (before 2010 the record covers babies with Austrian citizenship only). Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Zachariah
Most people given the name Zachariah in the United States are teenagers or young adults today.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Zachariah deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Zachariah truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Zachariah fits with your family’s names and surname.
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