ZACHARY ALLISON

English vernacular form of the New Testament Greek name Zacharias, a form of Hebrew Zechariah ‘God has remembered’. This was the name of the father of John the Baptist, who underwent a temporary period of dumbness for his lack of faith (Luke 1), and of a more obscure figure, Zacharias son of Barachias, who was slain ‘between the temple and the altar’ (Matthew 23:35; Luke 11:51). In the United States it is familiar as the name of a 19th-century president, Zachary Taylor. Since the 1990s the name has been remarkably popular in the English-speaking world, especially in the United States.

English and Scottish: patronymic from a Middle English male personal name: in most cases probably Allen, but other possibilities include a variant of Ellis or a short form of Alexander. In some instances, it may be from a female personal name, Alise or Alice (see Allis).