boy's name
Zac
ZAK
- Origin Hebrew
- Gender Boy
- Letters 3
- Popularity Uncommon
- Births on record 11,912
Scotland
#176
2024 births
Zac is a boy's name, the short form of Zachary, from a Hebrew name meaning the Lord has remembered. Its largest market is England and Wales rather than the United States, which is unusual for a clipped form of an American-popular name.
- Zac is a name of Hebrew origin.
- Peaked in England and Wales in 2010, when 564 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade in England and Wales.
- Today about 1 in 6,057 babies in England and Wales is given this name.
- First appears in birth records in 1996.
Zac over time
Births per decade in England and Wales, 1990s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1990s | 468 |
| 2000s | 2,337 |
| 2010s | 3,719 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 835 |
What Zac means
Zac means the Lord has remembered. The Hebrew original joins a verb for remembering to a form of the divine name, so it reads as a statement about God's action rather than a description of the child.
Where Zac comes from
Zac is clipped from Zachary, the English form of Zechariah, from the Hebrew Zekharyah — zakhar, he remembered, joined to Yah. The prophet Zechariah has a book in the Hebrew Bible, and a second Zechariah appears in Luke as the father of John the Baptist, struck mute for doubting the promise of a son. The name entered general English use after the Reformation with the wave of Old Testament names, and the clipped Zac belongs to a much later moment, the late twentieth-century preference for short forms registered as full names. The spelling divides by market: Zac in Britain and Ireland, Zach and Zack more often in the United States.
Zac in use
Zac ranks 176th in Scotland on 25 births, 220th in Northern Ireland, 225th in Ireland, 444th in England and Wales on 87, 1980th in France and 3187th in the United States. It peaked in England and Wales in 2010, when 564 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. Its largest market is England and Wales across 11,912 lifetime births, which is unusual for a short form of a name whose full version is far more American than British.
How popular is Zac?
In 2025, Zac was given to 87 babies in England and Wales, ranking #444 that year. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Where Zac is used
Figures for England and Wales withhold any name given to fewer than three babies in a year, so a gap means the name fell below that floor rather than went unused. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Zac
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Zac also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Zac over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Zac in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Zac
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Zac — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Zac
What does the name Zac mean?
The Lord has remembered, from the Hebrew Zekharyah by way of Zachary.
Is it Zac, Zach or Zack?
The spelling divides by market. Zac is the British and Irish preference; Zach and Zack are more common in the United States.
Is Zac short for Zachary?
Yes, though it is widely registered as a full name in its own right.
How popular is Zac?
176th in Scotland and 225th in Ireland, against 3187th in the United States.
Is Zac a girl's or a boy's name?
Zac is given almost entirely to boys in birth records.
Is Zac a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Zac currently ranks #176 in England and Wales. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.