Zachariah

English, Biblical

Variant of Zechariah. This spelling is used in the King James Version of the Old Testament to refer to one of the kings of Israel (called Zechariah in other versions), meaning "From the Hebrew name זְכַרְיָה (Zekharyah) meaning "Yahweh remembers". This is the name of many characters in the Old Testament, including the prophet Zechariah, the author of the Book of Zechariah. The name also appears in the New Testament belonging to the father of John the Baptist, who was temporarily made dumb because of his disbelief. He is regarded as a saint by Christians. In some versions of the New Testament his name is spelled in the Greek form Zacharias or the English form Zachary. As an English given name, Zechariah has been in occasional use since the Protestant Reformation."