Rachel

What Rachel means

Means “ewe”

Borrowed from Late Latin Rāchēl, from Ancient Greek Ῥαχήλ (Rhakhḗl), from Biblical Hebrew רָחֵל (rāḫēl, “ewe”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Rachel” (revision 94542863), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Rachel?

US: Falling: down from #167 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #272 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1985, when 16,360 girls got the name (#13 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 1,312 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 2,389 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 1,789 baby girls in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in NY (3.98 per 1,000 girls), NJ (3.8 per 1,000 girls), MT (1.77 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed girls born in each state.

US vs UK

Rachel is #250 in the US and #394 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (girls). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Rachel were girls.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

Wiktionary only lists the UK pronunciation so far.

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Rochel147 US · 5 E&W
• Rachelle46 US
• Rachael26 US · 6 E&W
• Rachell30 US
• Rashell30 US
• Rashel10 US
• Ruchel9 US
• Rechel9 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

Spelling variants on Wiktionary

• Rachael
• Rachelle
• Rach

Listed as alternative forms on Wiktionary.

If you like Rachel

Girls

• Sarah#90“masters, princes”^*
• Rebecca#349“enchantingly beautiful, captivating, snare”^*
• Sara#198Variant of Sarah, meaning “masters, princes”^*
• Jessica#665possibly “Iscah in Genesis 11:29, Jescha in the Wycliffe…^*
• Mary#125Same root as Miriam, possibly meaning “bitter”^*
• Jamie#857Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1977, with 12,895 babies; 316 in 2025

For a brother

• John#23possibly “God is gracious”^*
• Joseph#29“(God) shall add”^*
• Matthew#32“gift of the Lord”^*
• Jared#396Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #396 vs #1,705 in 2025
• Jon#951Variant of John, possibly meaning “God is gracious”^*
• Timothy#203“to honour + god”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Bible, Hebrew, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Rachel’s. Rank is US 2025.