Zakariya — Name Meaning in Islam

Origin: Hebrew. Zekharyah joins the verb "he remembered" to a shortened form of the divine name, giving God has remembered. Arabic received it as a foreign proper noun, and the grammarians record three accepted vocalisations — Zakariyyāʾ with a final hamza, Zakariyyā without, and the shortened Zakariyy — which is why transliterations vary so widely.

A false friend worth naming: the Arabic root ز-ك-و (z-k-w) gives zakāt (purifying alms), tazkiya (purification of the self), zakiyy (pure) and the name Zakiyya. The resemblance is close enough that the prophet's name is often explained through it, but the name is not from that root; it is a Hebrew name that landed in Arabic with a similar shape.

Who carried it: the Prophet Zakariya, named in the Qur'an. Ali Imran 3:37 places Maryam in his care and tells of the provision he found with her in the sanctuary; 3:38 gives his prayer for offspring, and Maryam 19:2-11 tells the same account at length, ending with the sign that he would not speak to people for three nights. He is the father of Yahya.

Spellings: Zakariya, Zakariyya, Zachariah, Zekeriya (Turkish), Zakaria (Indonesian), Zakariya (Urdu), Zakaria or Zakarya (French and Maghrebi), زكريا.

Pronunciation: za-ka-RIY-yā, four syllables, stress on the doubled y, which must be held audibly long. The final vowel is long.

Feminine counterpart: none in common use.