NameCensus.

UK boy's name

Zachary

A masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "the Lord remembers".

For 2026, the newest official UK baby-name figures on this page are from 2024. That release is the current official benchmark rather than a forecast.

Zachary is a boy's name in the UK records. People looking for Zachary popularity in 2026 should use the latest official release, which is 2024 in this profile. In that release it ranked #69, with 760 babies registered with the name. Its strongest year in the published records was 2013, with 1,780 births.

This profile covers 29,362 England and Wales registrations across 29 recorded years from 1996 to 2024. The figures come from ONS England and Wales, NRS Scotland and NISRA Northern Ireland, so the page is a view of published baby-name registrations rather than a forecast or a live count of people using the name today.

The latest count is about 43% of the recorded peak, which gives a quick read on how the name has moved since its high point.

We estimate that about 30,775 living people in the UK are called Zachary. This uses published birth registrations from England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, then applies ONS national life tables to estimate how many are likely still alive. It does not forecast extra births for 2025 or 2026.

Key insights

  • Zachary ranked #69 for boys in England and Wales in 2024, with 760 registrations.
  • The name peaked in 2013, when 1,780 boys were registered as Zachary.
  • Zachary ranks best in Scotland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #125 in 2024.
  • About 30,775 living people in the UK are estimated to have Zachary as a first name, after adjusting past birth registrations with ONS life tables.

Latest rank (E&W)

#69

2024

Births in 2024

760

Latest year

Peak year

2013

1,780 births

Estimated living

30,775

2026

Meaning

What does Zachary mean?

The given name Zachary originated from the Hebrew name Zechariah, which means "the Lord remembers" or "the Lord has remembered." It first appeared in the Old Testament, where it was the name of several minor Biblical figures, including a prophet and the father of John the Baptist.

The name Zechariah likely derived from the Hebrew words "zakar," meaning "to remember," and "Yah," a shortened form of the name of the Hebrew God, Yahweh. The Greek form of the name, Zacharias, was later Latinized to Zacharias or Zachary.

One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Zachary was Zachary of Mytilene, a Greek scholar and ecclesiastical historian who lived in the late 5th and early 6th centuries. He is known for his work on the history of the Church and for his correspondence with Severus of Antioch.

Another notable Zachary was Zachary the Scholastic, a Syrian monk and philosopher who lived in the 6th century. He was a prominent figure in the School of Alexandria and made significant contributions to the study of Aristotelian logic and philosophy.

In the 7th century, there was Zachary, a Pope of the Catholic Church who reigned from 741 to 752 AD. He is remembered for his efforts to strengthen the Church's authority and for his diplomatic relations with the Frankish rulers.

A more recent historical figure with the name Zachary was Zachary Taylor, an American military leader and the 12th President of the United States. He was born in 1784 and served as President from 1849 until his death in 1850.

Another famous Zachary was Zachary Macaulay, a British abolitionist and philanthropist who lived from 1768 to 1838. He played a significant role in the campaign to end the slave trade in the British Empire and was a prominent figure in the anti-slavery movement.

Sourced from namecensus.com.

Popularity

Zachary over time

The chart below shows babies named Zachary registered in England and Wales in the years where the name appears in the published records, from 1996 to 2024. Empty years are left out so rare names are not stretched across long periods where the published files do not show any registrations.

For Zachary, the clearest high point is 2013. The latest England and Wales figure is 760 births in 2024, compared with 1,780 at the peak.

Babies born per year

Zachary
04458901K2K199620102024

Decades

Zachary by decade

Decade totals smooth out the yearly jumps and make it easier to see whether Zachary was a short-lived spike or a name that stayed in regular use. Average rank is calculated only from years where a published rank exists.

Decade Average rank Total births Years covered
2020s #60 4,944 5
2010s #44 15,485 10
2000s #91 6,805 10
1990s #100 2,128 4

Geography

Where Zachary is most common

The bars show the latest published local birth counts for Zachary. They are useful for spotting where the name is showing up in real numbers, while the rank beside each bar shows how strongly it performs inside that region.

Zachary ranks best in Scotland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #125 in 2024.

Scotland
39
Northern Ireland
17

Across the UK

Zachary in Scotland and Northern Ireland

Scotland (NRS)

#125 in 2024

42 years of NRS records, 1,120 total registered

Northern Ireland (NISRA)

#125 in 2024

28 years of NISRA records, 503 total registered

Notable bearers

Famous people named Zachary

  • Zachary Furnish-John

    composer; singer; musician; pianist; lyricist; keyboardist; film actor; recording artist; HIV/AIDS activist

    English singer, pianist and composer.

    2010-

  • Zachary Morris

    badminton player

    badminton player

    2008-

  • Zachary Wallace

    field hockey player

    English field hockey player

    1999-

  • Zachary Geoffrey Gretton Peel

    Peerage person ID=709841

    1997-

  • Zachary Dunnett

    (born 1997)

    1997-

  • Zachary Douglas

    barrister; university teacher; legal scholar

    British legal scholar

    1974-

  • Zachary Taylor

    writer; musician; luthier; magazine editor

    British musician, luthier, woodworker and writer

    1936-

  • Zachary Cope

    surgeon; military physician

    Surgeon and medical historian (1881-1974)

    1881-1974

Related

Names similar to Zachary

FAQ

Zachary: questions and answers

How popular is the name Zachary in the UK right now?

In 2024, Zachary was ranked #69 for boys in England and Wales, with 760 births registered.

When was Zachary most popular?

The peak year on record was 2013, with 1,780 babies registered as Zachary in England and Wales.

What is the meaning and origin of Zachary?

A masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "the Lord remembers".

How many people are called Zachary in the UK?

A total of 29,362 babies have been registered as Zachary across the 29 years of ONS England & Wales records shown here, plus 1,120 more in Scotland and 503 in Northern Ireland.

Where is Zachary most common?

In the latest published local rankings, Zachary ranks best in Scotland, where it placed #125 in 2024. The regional bars on this page use birth counts, so they also reflect the size of each region.

Which records is this page based on?

The England and Wales timeline uses ONS baby-name records. Scotland figures come from NRS and Northern Ireland figures come from NISRA. Counts are registrations in published baby-name files. The living estimate uses those birth registrations with ONS national life tables.