Zachaeus
A masculine Hebrew name meaning "pure" or "innocent."
Name Census estimates that about 7 living Americans carry the first name Zachaeus. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Zachaeus today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Zachaeus births was 2001 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Zachaeus. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Zachaeus. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
7
~ 1 in 48,964,905 Americans
Peak year
2001
7 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2001 SSA rank
#9,226
Tracked since 2001
Popularity
Zachaeus: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Zachaeus by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Zachaeus during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 7 | 0 | 7 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Zachaeus
The name Zachaeus has its origins in the Hebrew language and culture. It is derived from the Hebrew name "Zakkay," which means "pure" or "innocent." The name can be traced back to ancient times, with its earliest known use dating back to the biblical period.
One of the most notable references to the name Zachaeus can be found in the New Testament of the Bible. In the Gospel of Luke, Zachaeus is described as a wealthy tax collector who climbed a sycamore tree to catch a glimpse of Jesus as he passed through Jericho. Jesus took notice of Zachaeus and declared that he would dine at his house, leading to Zachaeus' repentance and salvation.
The name Zachaeus has been used throughout history by various individuals. One of the earliest recorded examples is Saint Zachaeus, a 4th-century Bishop of Jerusalem who is venerated as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church. Another notable figure was Zachaeus the Rhetorician, a 6th-century Syrian scholar and author known for his works on rhetoric and philosophy.
In the medieval period, Zachaeus of Cremona (c. 1115-1192) was an Italian scholar and translator who played a significant role in the transmission of Arabic scientific knowledge to Western Europe. He is best known for his translations of works by Avicenna and other influential Islamic scholars.
During the Renaissance, Zacharias Ursinus (1534-1583) was a German theologian and one of the authors of the Heidelberg Catechism, a influential Reformed Protestant confessional document. He played a crucial role in the development of Reformed theology.
In more recent times, Zacharias Frankel (1801-1875) was a German Jewish scholar and one of the founders of the positive-historical school of Jewish theology, which sought to reconcile traditional Judaism with modern scholarship and critical historical analysis.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who bore the name Zachaeus, reflecting its enduring presence across various cultures and time periods.
People
Zachaeus + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Zachaeus as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with Z
Other first names starting with Z with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Zachaeus: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Zachaeus?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 7 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Zachaeus going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 48,964,905 US residents.
Is Zachaeus a common name?
We classify Zachaeus as "Very Rare". It ranks above 23.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 7 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Zachaeus most popular?
The single biggest year for Zachaeus was 2001, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Zachaeus is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Zachaeus in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Zachaeus a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Zachaeus in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Zachaeus still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Zachaeus in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Zachaeus can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people are called Zachaeus?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.