LORETTA ZACHARIAS

Variant of Lauretta, normally borne by Roman Catholics, among whom it is associated with Loreto.

German, Greek, English, etc.: from the New Testament Greek Biblical personal name Zacharias, Aramaic and Hebrew Zecharya, composed of the elements zechar ‘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. It is found as a Jewish name, and as a personal name among Christians in India. In the U.S. it is used as a last name among families from southern India.