Rachel

Where Rachel comes from

Borrowed from Late Latin Rāchēl, from Ancient Greek Ῥαχήλ (Rhakhḗl), from Biblical Hebrew רָחֵל (rāḫēl, “ewe”). Doublet of Raquel.
— Wiktionary's entry for Rachel
  • Hebrew
  • 2 syllables
Rachel through the years
  1. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #109 among girls, with 166 babies in the first year on record.
  2. 1907
    Rachel Carson born
    American marine biologist and conservationist
  3. 1970
    Rachel Weisz born
    British actress
  4. 1996
    Peak, #9
    16,121 babies named Rachel, its best rank.
  5. 2003
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births, down to #28.
In the dictionary
  • A female given name from Hebrew.
Namesakes
  • Rachel Carson · American marine biologist and conservationist, 1907–1964
  • Rachel Weisz · British actress, born 1970
  • Rachel McAdams · Canadian actress, born 1978
  • Rachel Maddow · American television news host and political commentator, born 1973
  • Rachel Zegler · American actress, born 2001

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.