Zacharias

Zacharias is a male given name and, in some contexts, a surname. It is a Latinized form of the Hebrew name Zechariah, from the root meaning “God remembers” (Hebrew zĕḵārīyāh). The name has appeared in various languages with forms such as Zechariah, Zachariah, Zachary, Zacharias, and Zacharie. In religious contexts, the form Zacharias is common in Latin and some Christian traditions; the English form Zachary is more widely used today.

In the Hebrew Bible, Zechariah (also rendered Zacharias in some translations) is the prophetic author of the Book of Zechariah, a figure associated with the postexilic era. In the New Testament, Zechariah the priest is the husband of Elizabeth and the father of John the Baptist; his story is told in the Gospel of Luke. The name thus appears in both the Hebrew Bible and the Christian New Testament, with variations in spelling across languages and traditions.

Notable people named Zacharias include Zacharias Janssen, a 16th- to 17th-century Dutch glassmaker credited by some sources with inventing the first compound microscope, as well as a number of modern figures who bear the name as a given name or surname in various cultures. The name remains in use across Europe and parts of the world, reflecting its biblical roots and linguistic adaptations.