Explore the Family Name Zacharias

The meaning of Zacharias

German, English, Greek, and Jewish; Czech (Zachariáš) and Slovak (Zachariaš and Zachariáš): from a Biblical personal name, Greek Zacharias, Aramaic and Hebrew Zekharya, composed of the elements zekhar ‘to remember’ + ya ‘God’. This name was borne by a Biblical prophet and in the New Testament by the father of John the Baptist, for which reason it achieved a modest popularity among Gentiles during the Middle Ages. As a surname in Britain, it originated mainly among Nonconformists in Wales and Cornwall in the 17th and 18th centuries. In North America, the English form of the surname has absorbed cognates from other languages, e.g. Italian Zaccaria, Polish Zachariasz, Slovenian Caharija, and their derivatives. The name Zacharias is also found among Christians in southern India (compare Cherian, Zacharia, and Zachariah), but since South Indians traditionally do not have hereditary surnames, the southern Indian name was in most cases registered as such only after immigration of its bearers to the US. Some characteristic forenames: German Erwin, Gerhard, Erna, Hannes, Helmut, Irmgard, Kurt, Lothar, Nikolaus, Rudi, Wolfgang.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Zacharias in the United States?

According to data derived from the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Zacharias saw a slight increase in popularity between 2000 and 2010. The number of people with this surname went up from 3,469 in 2000 to 3,805 in 2010, representing an increase of 9.69%. The rank of the name also improved slightly, moving from 8,720th place in 2000 to 8,641st place in 2010, a change of 0.91%. However, the proportion of individuals with the Zacharias surname per 100,000 people remained stable at 1.29.

20002010Change
Rank#8,720#8,6410.91%
Count3,4693,8059.69%
Proportion per 100k1.291.290%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Zacharias

In terms of ethnic identity, the Census data reveals some significant shifts among those carrying the Zacharias surname from 2000 to 2010. Most notably, there was a substantial increase in the proportion of individuals identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander (77.05% increase) and Black (138.18% increase). In contrast, the percentage of individuals identifying as White fell by 6.17%. Those identifying as Hispanic saw a moderate increase of 18.84%, while the American Indian and Alaskan Native category experienced a decline of 33.33%. The percentage of individuals identifying as Two or more races remained unchanged.

20002010Change
White88.01%82.58%-6.17%
Asian/Pacific Islander5.36%9.49%77.05%
Hispanic3.98%4.73%18.84%
Two or More Races1.47%1.47%0%
Black0.55%1.31%138.18%
American Indian and Alaskan Native0.63%0.42%-33.33%

Zacharias ancestry composition

23andMe computes an ancestry breakdown for each customer. People may have ancestry from just one population or they may have ancestry from several populations. The most commonly-observed ancestry found in people with the surname Zacharias is French & German, which comprises 38.0% of all ancestry found in people with the surname. The next two most common ancestries are British & Irish (24.9%) and Eastern European (9.9%). Additional ancestries include Scandinavian, Italian, Ashkenazi Jewish, Spanish & Portuguese, and Malayali Subgroup.

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ANCESTRY BREAKDOWNCOMPOSITION
French & German38.0%
British & Irish24.9%
Eastern European9.9%
Other27.2%
Zacharias

Possible origins of the surname Zacharias

Your DNA provides clues about where your recent ancestors may have lived. Having many distant relatives in the same location suggests that you may all share common ancestry there. Locations with many distant relatives can also be places where people have migrated recently, such as large cities. If a large number of individuals who share your surname have distant relatives in a specific area, it could indicate a connection between your surname and that location, stemming from either recent ancestral ties or migration.

Based on 23andMe data, people with last name Zacharias have recent ancestry locations spanning a few countries, mostly in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and Ireland.

RECENT ANCESTRY LocationPercentage
West Yorkshire, United Kingdom56.70%
Greater London, United Kingdom56.70%
Glasgow City, United Kingdom56.70%
West Midlands, United Kingdom55.80%
Merseyside, United Kingdom55.80%

What Zacharias haplogroups can tell you

Haplogroups are genetic population groups that share a common ancestor on either your paternal or maternal line. These paternal and maternal haplogroups shed light on your genetic ancestry and help tell the story of your family.

The top paternal haplogroup of people with the surname Zacharias is R-L23, which is predominantly found among people with European ancestry. Haplogroup R-L23 is descended from haplogroup R-M343. Other common haplogroups include R-L260 and R-U152, which are predominantly found among people with European and European ancestry. Other surnames with similar common haplogroups are: Barta, Engelhardt, Brinkman, Schmid, Baron, Pohl, Stoll, Keen, Brunner, Fritz.

The most common maternal haplogroups of people with Zacharias surname are: H1, H, N1. These most commonly trace back to individuals of European ancestry.

zachariasPaternal Haplogroup Origins R-M343
Paternal Haplo Image

Your paternal lineage may be linked to Niall of the Nine Hostages

The spread of haplogroup R-M269 in northern Ireland and Scotland was likely aided by men like Niall of the Nine Hostages. Perhaps more myth than man, Niall of the Nine Hostages is said to have been a King of Tara in northwestern Ireland in the late 4th century C.E. His name comes from a tale of nine hostages that he held from the regions he ruled over. Though the legendary stories of his life may have been invented hundreds of years after he died, genetic evidence suggests that the Uí Néill dynasty, whose name means "descendants of Niall," did in fact trace back to just one man who bore a branch of haplogroup R-M269.The Uí Néill ruled to various degrees as kings of Ireland from the 7th to the 11th century C.E. In the highly patriarchal society of medieval Ireland, their status allowed them to have outsized numbers of children and spread their paternal lineage each generation. In fact, researchers have estimated that between 2 and 3 million men with roots in north-west Ireland are paternal-line descendants of Niall.

Your maternal lineage may be linked to Marie Antoinette

Because it is so dominant in the general European population, haplogroup H also appears quite frequently in the continent's royal houses. Marie Antoinette, an Austrian Hapsburg who married into the French royal family, inherited the haplogroup from her maternal ancestors. So did Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, whose recorded genealogy traces his female line to Bavaria. Scientists also discovered that famed 16th century astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus traced his maternal lineages to haplogroup H.

Maternal Haplo Image

What do people with the surname Zacharias have in common?

Spoiler alert: it's complicated. People with the same last name are usually no more genetically similar than a randomly sampled group of people from the same population. That said, people with the same surname are more likely to have similar ancestries than randomly sampled individuals. The reason is the tendency of people with similar cultural or geographical backgrounds to preferentially mate with one another. That's why people who share a surname may be more likely to share traits and tendencies in common than people within the general population. Check out the percentages below to see the prevalences of tastes, habits, and traits of people with your surname compared with prevalences among 23andMe users.

Preferences

Zacharias

Chocolate Ice Cream

Prefers chocolate flavored ice cream over other flavors.

"Zacharias" Surname 29.4%

23andMe Users 41.3%

Traits

Zacharias

Straight Hair

Hair with strands that have no visible curl or wave.

"Zacharias" Surname 42.9%

23andMe Users 30.5%

Habits

Zacharias

Sugary Drink

Drinks one or more sugary drinks per day.

"Zacharias" Surname 23.3%

23andMe Users 21.1%

Wellness

Zacharias

Migraine

A severe headache characterized by intense pain, sensitivity to light and sound, and often accompanied by nausea and vomiting.

"Zacharias" Surname 13.2%

23andMe Users 16.4%

Are health conditions linked to the last name Zacharias?

The short answer is that, if there is an association between surname and health, it's usually more about your ancestry than your name. Individuals with a given surname are no more genetically similar than the general population but often have similar ancestries. The populations of people associated with those shared ancestries often have sets of genetic variations, also known as alleles, in common. Some of those alleles are associated with a greater likelihood of developing certain diseases.

Disease variant frequency by ancestry

Disease allele frequencies in populations associated with the surname Zacharias are shown below. Important Note: not everyone with a disease allele will develop these health condition

Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Y402H variant

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the most common cause of irreversible vision loss among older adults. The disease results in damage to the central part of the retina (the macula), impairing vision needed for reading, driving, or even recognizing faces. The 23andMe Health + Ancestry DNA test includes the two most common variants associated with an increased risk of developing the condition: the Y402H variant in the CFH gene and the A69S variant in the ARMS2 gene. Learn more about Age-Related Macular Degeneration

French & German 60.8%

23andMe Users 57.2%