Zecharya
A masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "the Lord remembers".
Name Census estimates that about 5 living Americans carry the first name Zecharya. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Zecharya today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Zecharya births was 2015 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Zecharya. 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 Zecharya. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
5
~ 1 in 68,550,868 Americans
Peak year
2015
5 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2015 SSA rank
#14,035
Tracked since 2015
Popularity
Zecharya: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Zecharya 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 Zecharya during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Zecharya
The name Zecharya has its origins in the Hebrew language and culture, dating back to ancient times. It is derived from the Hebrew name Zekharyah, which means "the Lord has remembered" or "the Lord remembers." The name is closely associated with the biblical prophet Zechariah, who lived during the 6th century BCE and is mentioned in the Book of Ezra and the Book of Nehemiah.
According to the Bible, Zechariah was a priest and a prophet who lived in Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile. He prophesied about the coming of the Messiah and the restoration of Israel. The Book of Zechariah, which bears his name, is one of the books of the Hebrew Bible and is included in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Zecharya can be found in the Bible itself, referring to the prophet Zechariah. Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore this name, including:
1. Zechariah (6th century BCE), the biblical prophet mentioned in the Book of Ezra and the Book of Nehemiah.
2. Zechariah ben Jehoiada (9th century BCE), a Hebrew priest who was killed by order of King Joash of Judah for criticizing the king's idolatry.
3. Zechariah I (4th century CE), a Patriarch of the Church of the East, also known as the Nestorian Church.
4. Zechariah ben Avkilus (3rd century CE), a Jewish Talmudic scholar and one of the leading figures in the compilation of the Mishnah.
5. Zechariah of Mytilene (6th century CE), a Greek Christian bishop and historian who wrote a chronicle of the reign of Emperor Justin I.
The name Zecharya has been used across various cultures and religions throughout history, primarily among Jews, Christians, and Muslims. It has remained a popular name in many parts of the Middle East and among certain Christian communities, particularly in regions where Hebrew and Aramaic languages were prevalent.
People
Zecharya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Zecharya 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
Zecharya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Zecharya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Zecharya 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 68,550,868 US residents.
Is Zecharya a common name?
We classify Zecharya as "Very Rare". It ranks above 18.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Zecharya most popular?
The single biggest year for Zecharya was 2015, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Zecharya is about 11 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 Zecharya in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Zecharya a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Zecharya 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 Zecharya still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Zecharya 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 Zecharya 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 share the name Zecharya?
Want to know how many people have the name Zecharya? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.