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
Along the way
  1. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #109 among girls — 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 — more than any year before or since.
  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.