Rochelle
Feminine · “little rock”
Rochelle is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 46,994 girls against 401 boys since 1880.
Rochelle is a little rock. La Rochelle is a fortified Atlantic port that withstood one of the most famous sieges in French history, and its name is simply a description of the ground it stands on.
How old is the name Rochelle?
Rochelle first appears in US birth records in 1900 — 125 years ago. The typical Rochelle alive today was born around 1969, making them about 56 years old. About 40,000 people named Rochelle are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Rochelle most popular?
Rochelle peaked in 1969, reaching #236 nationally. Today it ranks #4546, 4,310 places below that high. See the whole 1969 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From roche to Rochelle
The story of Rochelle
La Rochelle was a Huguenot stronghold and endured a fourteen-month royal siege in the 1620s that reduced its population by three-quarters — an event that shaped French Protestant history and scattered its survivors across the Atlantic world. The city's name became a given name in twentieth-century America, part of the fashion for French forms, and Rochelle peaked in the mid-1950s.
Meaning
little rock
From the French roche, 'rock', with the diminutive -elle. La Rochelle takes its name from the rocky outcrop it was built on. The name has also been read as a feminine of the Germanic Rochus, but the place-name derivation is much the better supported.
How the name formed
- roche
- La Rochelle
- Rochelle
Related forms: Rochelle · Roshelle · Rocchella
Pronouncing Rochelle
roh-SHEL
Two syllables, stress on the second. French says it the same way; the ch is the soft French sh.
Nicknames for Rochelle
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
- 1900
- Most girls named
- 19691,271 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #236reached in 1969
- Change vs 2022
- −3.2%30 in 2025, from 31
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.
Rochelle in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Rochelle in French — same name
- Roshelle in English — spelling variant
- Rocchella in Italian — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: New York, California, Texas.
Rochelles among us
people named Rochelle are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 53,576 born in 2025 was named Rochelle
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 Dale test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Rochelle's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Dale climbed just as high around 1952, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Dale's path sketches the road Rochelle is walking now.
Rochelle 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
Where Rochelle is headed
Rochelle should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium 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.
Rochelle beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Rochelle in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A real place with a documented history and a transparent meaning.
- The end stress gives it a distinct rhythm against a front-stressed surname.
- Shelly is a ready-made short form with a life of its own.
- The ch is said as sh, which English readers who have not met the name may get wrong.
- It is closely dated to the middle of the twentieth century.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Rochelle to the vote.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Rochelle
Feminine · #4546 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Rochelles are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 40,000 people named Rochelle are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Rochelle in 2025?
- Rochelle ranks #4546 among US girl names in 2025, with 30 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Rochelle?
- About 1 in every 53,576 US girls born in 2025 was named Rochelle — 30 in all.
- Will my child share the name Rochelle with classmates?
- Rochelle will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Rochelle
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Amie#4546 · Rashell#4546 · Renatta#4546 · Raisa#4546 · Amena#4546 · Aryn#4546 · Nadiya#4546 · Jeanne#4546
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Rochelle? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Rochelle 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.
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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