Rachel
Feminine · “ewe”
Rachel is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 573,957 girls against 1,791 boys since 1880. See Rachel as a boy name
A woman with this name took on the chemical industry and won posthumously. Her book about pesticides was attacked before publication and after it, she was called hysterical and unqualified in print, and a presidential committee reviewed the evidence and agreed with her. She was dead within two years of the book appearing.
How old is the name Rachel?
Rachel was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Rachel alive today was born around 1987, making them about 38 years old. About 510,000 people named Rachel are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Rachel most popular?
Rachel peaked in 1996, reaching #9 nationally. Today it ranks #250, 241 places below that high. See the whole 1996 chart.
Where it comes from
From Rachel to Rachel
The story of Rachel
She does one thing in the story that readers rarely notice. Leaving her father's house for good, she takes the household gods with her — the small figures that carried a family's authority and possibly its inheritance rights — and when he catches up and searches the camp, she is sitting on them in the camel's saddle and tells him she cannot get up because she is menstruating. He does not search further. It is a theft, a deception and a joke at the expense of the gods themselves, and the text reports it without a word of comment.
Meaning
ewe
Hebrew, and unusually concrete: the word means a female sheep. Pastoral names of that kind are common in the same text and the sense has never been disputed.
Cultural footprint
Rachel Carson (b. 1907) — Silent Spring launched the modern environmental movement
Rachel McAdams (b. 1978) — Mean Girls and The Notebook star
Rachel Weisz (b. 1970) — Oscar winner (The Constant Gardener)
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
How the name formed
- Rachel
- Rahel
Related forms: Rachel · Raquel · Rachelle · Rachele
Pronouncing Rachel
RAY-chul
Two syllables with the stress at the front. Hebrew and most European languages put it on the second and give the ch a harder value.
Nicknames for Rachel
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1880
- Most girls named
- 199516,047 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #9reached in 1996
- Change vs 2022
- −3.0%1,225 in 2025, from 1,263
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Rachel in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Rachel in Hebrew — same name
- Raquel in Spanish — same name
- Rachelle in French — spelling variant
- Rachele in Italian — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: New York, New Jersey, California.
Rachels among us
people named Rachel are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 1,312 born in 2025 was named Rachel
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Kathleen test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Rachel's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Kathleen climbed just as high around 1949, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Kathleen's path sketches the road Rachel is walking now.
Rachel peaked long ago yet still holds steady — names that survive their own wave usually settle into quiet, durable classics.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Rachel is headed
Rachel should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Rachel beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Rachel in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It is ancient, universally recognized and carried in every European language.
- The meaning is concrete and gentle rather than abstract.
- Rae sits inside it as a short form that stands entirely alone.
- Its peak was recent enough and large enough to date the name to a decade.
- Rachael and Rachelle are both in use and the spelling occasionally gets queried.
- The record holds a few boys as well, and the boy is much the smaller side.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Rachel to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Rachel
Feminine · #250 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Rachels are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 510,000 people named Rachel are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Rachel in 2025?
- Rachel ranks #250 among US girl names in 2025, with 1,225 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Rachel?
- About 1 in every 1,312 US girls born in 2025 was named Rachel — 1,225 in all.
- Will my child share the name Rachel with classmates?
- Rachel will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Rachel
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Rosemary#251 · Rowan#249 · Lilly#252 · Reagan#248 · Amora#247 · Kailani#253 · Miriam#246 · Faith#254
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Rachel? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Rachel and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Or jump into a head-to-head
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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