Zakary
A masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "the Lord remembers".
Name Census estimates that about 5,486 living Americans carry the first name Zakary. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Zakary today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Zakary births was 2002 (266 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Zakary. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Zakary with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
5.5K
~ 1 in 62,478 Americans
Peak year
2002
266 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,686
Tracked since 1970
Census
Zakary in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,469 people with the first name Zakary, which placed it at #4,256 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#4,256
National first-name rank
People counted
4.5K
4,469 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
82.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Zakary
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zakary is White at 82.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (9.0%) and Two or More Races (4.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Zakary described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Zakary at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White82.5% · 3,686
- Hispanic or Latino9.0% · 402
- Two or more races4.5% · 202
- Black or African American2.2% · 99
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 48
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 32
Popularity
Zakary: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Zakary from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 2,111 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Zakary 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 Zakary during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Zakarys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 34 states and territories. California, Texas, Ohio recorded the most babies named Zakary, while Nevada, New Mexico, Montana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 99 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Zakary
The name Zakary is derived from the Hebrew name Zechariah, which means "the Lord has remembered." The name is rooted in ancient Semitic languages and can be traced back to biblical times.
The name Zechariah appears in the Old Testament of the Bible, as the name of a prophet and the author of the Book of Zechariah. The name gained popularity among Jews and early Christians, who revered the prophet and his teachings.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Zakary is found in the writings of the 1st-century Jewish historian Josephus, who mentions a high priest named Zacharias (a Greek variation of the name) who served during the reign of King Herod.
In the Middle Ages, the name Zakary was widely used among European Christians, particularly in France and England. It was often spelled as "Zachary" or "Zacharie" in these regions.
Notable historical figures with the name Zakary include Zachary Macaulay (1768-1838), a British abolitionist and philanthropist who played a crucial role in the campaign to end the slave trade. Another notable bearer of the name was Zachary Taylor (1784-1850), the 12th President of the United States.
In the realm of literature, Zachary Grey (1688-1766) was an English clergyman and scholar known for his extensive annotations of works by authors like John Milton and Jonathan Swift. Zachary Pearce (1690-1774) was an English theologian and bishop who made significant contributions to biblical exegesis.
The name Zakary also has a long history in Eastern Europe, where it was often spelled as "Zakhariy" or "Zakhari." One prominent figure with this name was Zakhari Grigoryevich Chernyshev (1722-1784), a Russian military leader and statesman who served as a field marshal under Catherine the Great.
Throughout its long history, the name Zakary has carried a sense of reverence and religious significance, reflecting its biblical origins and the notable individuals who have borne this name over the centuries.
People
Zakary + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Zakary 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
Zakary: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Zakary?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5,486 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Zakary 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 62,478 US residents.
Is Zakary a common name?
We classify Zakary as "Rare". It ranks above 96.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5,595 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Zakary most popular?
The single biggest year for Zakary was 2002, when 266 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Zakary is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Zakary in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,469 people with the name Zakary, or 1.48 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,256 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Zakary in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Zakary?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Zakary appears almost entirely male. Of the 4,468 people counted with this name, 99.7% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Zakary?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zakary is White at 82.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (9.0%) and Two or More Races (4.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Zakary most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Zakary in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.5% (3,686 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
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 Zakary in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Zakary a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Zakary 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 Zakary still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Zakary 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 Zakary 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.
How many people have Zakary as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.