Zachary

Part of speech: noun, proper noun

Definitions

1. A male given name of Hebrew origin meaning "the Lord has remembered"
2. A common first name for boys, often shortened to Zach, often associated with various notable figures
3. A popular Christian name, frequently used in English-speaking countries and sometimes referenced in literature

Etymology: Zachary is a name with a double life: a biblical prophet's name that also, in one Louisiana town, belonged to a farmer. The biblical root is Hebrew "Zəḵaryā," meaning "Yahweh has remembered," which passed into Latin as "Zacharias" and into Koine Greek as "Zakharías." The English form "Zachary" is a clipped version of "Zachariah" and "Zacharias" with a "-y" ending, and it sits alongside related forms such as "Zach," "Zechariah," "Zakariya," and "Jakariya," all sharing the same source. The name also turns up as a place name. In the 1880s, the farmer Darel Zachary sold land for a local depot on the Illinois Central Railroad, and the community that grew there took his surname, giving the American city of Zachary, Louisiana, its name.