Rahil
Masculine · “Hebrew rachel”
Rahil is given to both — 545 boys and 193 girls since 1880. See other names given to both
Rachel means ewe. The patriarchal narratives are full of animal names: Rachel a ewe, Leah possibly a cow, Deborah a bee, Jonah a dove, Caleb a dog, Tabitha a gazelle, Zipporah a bird. It is the naming vocabulary of people who kept livestock and watched them closely.
How old is the name Rahil?
Rahil first appears in US birth records in 1980 — 45 years ago. The typical Rahil alive today was born around 2008, making them about 17 years old. About 500 people named Rahil are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Rahil most popular?
Rahil peaked in 2004, reaching #3285 nationally. Today it ranks #8910, 5,625 places below that high. See the whole 2004 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From rachel to Rahil
The story of Rahil
Animal names are one of the oldest layers in Semitic naming and they are concrete rather than symbolic. Rachel is a ewe and her sister Leah's name may be a cow, which reads very differently once you notice that their father is a herdsman and the whole story turns on flocks. Deborah is a bee, Jonah a dove, Caleb a dog, Achbor a mouse, Huldah a weasel, Shaphan a rock badger, Zipporah a bird, Tabitha and Dorcas both a gazelle in two languages. Some of these are affectionate, some descriptive, and some may be clan or totem names, which is disputed. What is not disputed is the pattern. A pastoral society names children after the animals it lives among, and the practice is common across the ancient Near East, in Akkadian and Ugaritic as much as in Hebrew.
Meaningscholars disagree
Hebrew rachel, a ewe
Rahil is the Arabic and Persian form of Rachel, Hebrew rachel, a ewe or female sheep. In Arabic and Persian usage it is a woman's name, so the male entries in the American record most likely represent a different name, possibly a form of Rahil or Raheel used in South Asian families, or a variant of Rahim. The record does not distinguish them. The peak is 2004.
How the name formed
- rachel
- Rachel
- Rahil
Related forms: Rahil · Rachel · Raheel
Pronouncing Rahil
rah-HEEL
Two syllables, stress on the second. The medial h is fully pronounced in Arabic and is usually dropped by English speakers, giving RAH-eel.
Nicknames for Rahil
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
- 1980
- Most boys named
- 200429 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3285reached in 2004
- Change vs 2024
- −42.9%8 in 2025, from 14
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.
Rahil in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Rahil in Arabic — same name
- Rachel in Hebrew — same name
- Raheel in Urdu — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: New York.
Rahils among us
people named Rahil are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 213,510 born in 2025 was named Rahil
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 Johnthomas test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Rahil's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Johnthomas climbed just as high around 1982, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Johnthomas's path sketches the road Rahil is walking now.
Rahil sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Rahil beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Rahil in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Five letters and two syllables, easy to say.
- The underlying name is among the most widely used in the world.
- The meaning is concrete and documented.
- In Arabic and Persian it is a woman's name.
- The medial h is difficult for English speakers.
- Raheel and Rahil compete as spellings.
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What they receive
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Rahil
Masculine · #8910 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Rahils are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 500 people named Rahil are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Rahil in 2025?
- Rahil ranks #8910 among US boy names in 2025, with 8 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Rahil?
- About 1 in every 213,510 US boys born in 2025 was named Rahil — 8 in all.
- Will my child share the name Rahil with classmates?
- Rahil will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Rahil
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Davie#8910 · Ned#8910 · Darious#8910 · Alois#8910 · Len#8910 · Barton#8910 · Desmon#8910 · Winfield#8910
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Rahil? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Rahil and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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