Rachel

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Rahel in FR France, TZ Tanzania, CH Switzerland and 3 more.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 10 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Rachel is also recorded as 8 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• French given name896K records spelled Rachel12 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, Brazil, United States, Philippines

  Languages: French, Portuguese, Spanish

  Also written Rachël, Rachèl, Rachél, Rächël, 'Rachel

• a separate given name204K records spelled Rachel4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Italy

  Also written Rachèl, Rachēl, Ráchel

• Swahili given name78K records spelled Rachel8 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa

  Languages: Swahili, Southern Sotho, Kinyarwanda

  Also written Rachél, Rachèl

• Indonesian given name27K records spelled Rachel7 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Indonesia, United States, Malaysia, Philippines

  Languages: Indonesian, Malay, Malagasy

  Also written 'Rachel, Rachel', Ráchel, Rachèl

• Polish given name21K records spelled Rachel5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Poland, Czechia, United States, United Kingdom

  Languages: Polish, Czech, Slovak

  Also written Rachèl, Râçhḗl

• English given name14K records spelled Rachel135 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Philippines

  Languages: English, German, Thai

  Also written Rachael, Rachelle, Raquel, Рахель

• Italian given name11K records spelled Rachel4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Singapore

  Also written Rãchēl, Rachël, Ráchel

• Hebrew given name7.1K records spelled Rachel15 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Israel, Morocco, Qatar, United States

  Also written רחל, רחלי, רייצ'ל, Rahel, ראכל

81 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Rachel is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• A classic biblical name symbolizing beauty, gentleness, and maternal devotion.

  as a name·Biblical Names Compiled Database

• In English, Hebrew: 'ewe'; wife of Jacob and mother of Joseph in the Bible.

  as a name·Baby names, 25,350 baby names nicknames for your family, friends pets, including the top 100 names, 2,000 most popular…

• In French, Hebrew origin; from Rachel, meaning 'ewe'.

  as a name·Le grand guide des prénoms (Enfant - Education)

• Biblical name (meaning ‘ewe’ in Hebrew}), borne by the beloved wife of Jacob and mother (after long barrenness) of Joseph (Genesis 28-35) and of Benjamin, at whose birth she died. In the Middle Ages and later this was regarded as a characteristically Jewish name, but it is now also widely used among Gentiles.

  as a name·A concise dictionary of first names

• In English, Younger daughter of Laban, sister to Leah, and second wife of Jacob.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 146 years between 1880–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Rachel Carsonb. 1907USAmerican marine biologist and conservationist (1907–1964)
• Lynn Redgraveb. 1943GBnot in their usual nameBritish actress (1943–2010)
• Rachel Griffithsb. 1968AUAustralian actress
• Rachel Weiszb. 1970GBBritish actress (born 1970)
• Rachel Maddowb. 1973USAmerican television news host and political commentator
• Rachel McAdamsb. 1978CACanadian actress (born 1978)
• Rachel Nicholsb. 1980USAmerican actress and model (born 1980)
• Rachel Bilsonb. 1981USAmerican actress
• Meghan Markleb. 1981USnot in their usual namemember of the British royal family and Duchess of Sussex since 2018
• Rachel Bostonb. 1982USAmerican actress

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 1,830 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Rachel?

We estimate roughly 561 thousand people bear Rachel (counting its spellings and scripts) across 9 countries in our records.

In which country does Rachel have the most bearers?

We estimate about 493 thousand people bear Rachel in the United States, more than in any other country in our records, where it is most often spelled rachel.

How common is Rachel compared with other names?

In the United States, Rachel is the 135th most common given name of 3,122,706 given names recorded there.

Is Rachel a male or female name?

Rachel is a female name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Rachel mean?

Recorded meaning: She is one of the four Matriarchs of Israel, symbolizing the compassionate mother who intercedes and weeps for her children's suffering and exile.