Rachael

Where Rachael comes from

The dictionaries list Rachael as a given name — a female given name from Hebrew, a spelling variant of Rachel first recorded in the 17th century — but don't trace where it came from. The record below is what the SSA data shows.

  • Hebrew
Along the way
  1. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #492 among girls — 12 babies in the first year on record.
  2. 1979
    Rachael Leigh Cook born
    American actress and model
  3. 1984
    Rachael Taylor born
    Australian actress and model
  4. 1987
    Peak, #98
    2,833 babies named Rachael — more than any year before or since.
  5. 2000
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #228.
In the dictionary
  • A female given name from Hebrew, a spelling variant of Rachel first recorded in the 17th century.
Namesakes
  • Rachael Leigh Cook · American actress and model, born 1979
  • Rachael Taylor · Australian actress and model, born 1984
  • Rachael Harris · American actress and comedian, born 1968
  • Rachael Yamagata · American musician, born 1977
  • Rachael Carpani · Australian actress, 1980–2025

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.