Every Girl Name

Girl's name

Rachel

Say it RAY-chul

Hebrew origin ewe 2 syllables

Sister names Middle names Deal sisters

Where Rachel is loved, common and rare

Common in Israel. Rare in Canada, Ireland, the UK and seven more places.

1 in 880 girls born in Ireland in 2025

Every place

In 15 of the 40 official lists, among them Israel (17th), Quebec (147th) and British Columbia (156th).

Show all 15 placesShow less
PlaceRankGirlsShare
Israel רחל17th 2024697about 1 in 113
Quebec province147th 202537about 1 in 703
British Columbia province156th 202319about 1 in 629
Ireland186th 2025241 in 880
Ontario province214th 202456about 1 in 973
Northern Ireland290th 202551 in 1,457
France315th 20251701 in 1,687
Scotland324th 2025101 in 1,789
England and Wales394th 20251061 in 2,389
Poland583rd 202531 in 39,929
The Netherlands626th 202519about 1 in 3,211
Switzerland665th 202591 in 3,777
Austria742nd 202551 in 7,144
Italy829th 2024121 in 14,931
Bonn city382nd 20251about 1 in 3,015

Rare, below the listed names: New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, New Zealand, Berlin, Munich, Cologne, Leipzig, Rostock, Norway, Sweden, Spain, Catalonia, Hungary and Slovenia.

Not in a short top list, so no figure: Nova Scotia (top 21), Denmark (top 50), Finland (top 50), Iceland (top 10), Estonia (top 25), Moscow (top 61), Turkey (top 30), Argentina (top 20) and Croatia (top 50).

Germany publishes no national statistics on first names. German figures here are city lists (Berlin, Munich, Cologne, Bonn, Leipzig, Rostock), never the country.

Israel publishes names in Hebrew script. The Latin spelling shown is our transliteration; the published form is shown beside it.

Sources: Central Bureau of Statistics (Israel) (Israel); Retraite Québec (Banque de prénoms, Données Québec) (Quebec); BC Vital Statistics Agency (BC Data Catalogue) (British Columbia); Central Statistics Office (CSO) (Ireland); Ontario Office of the Registrar General (Ontario Data Catalogue) (Ontario); NISRA (Northern Ireland); INSEE, Fichier des prénoms (édition 2025) (France); National Records of Scotland (Scotland); Office for National Statistics (England and Wales); Ministerstwo Cyfryzacji, rejestr PESEL (dane.gov.pl) (Poland); Sociale Verzekeringsbank (SVB) (the Netherlands); Bundesamt für Statistik (BFS) / Office fédéral de la statistique (OFS) (Switzerland); Statistik Austria (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1) (Austria); ISTAT, Contanomi (Italy); Bundesstadt Bonn, Standesamt (opendata.bonn.de) (Bonn). How we count, and every source

About the name

Rachel is a biblical name: the wife of Jacob and mother of Joseph and Benjamin in Genesis. It comes through Latin and Greek from the Hebrew rāḫēl, meaning 'ewe'. Raquel is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the same name.

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Two syllables, said RAY-chul, with the stress on the first. Rach is the obvious short form. Spellings and relatives include Rachael, Rachelle, Rachele, Rakel and Rahel.

This was a hugely familiar name in the 1970s, when it peaked in the French records, and it is now used more quietly. It remains well liked in Israel, where it ranks highly, and it is still seen in Quebec, British Columbia and Ireland. In most regions it is gently declining, which makes it a classic with plenty of adult bearers rather than a current trend.

Meaning, origin, pronunciation

Pronounced
RAY-chul, 2 syllables
Meaning
ewe
Origin
Hebrew
Other spellings
  • Rakel
  • Rachele
  • Raquel
  • Rachael
  • Rachelle
  • Rach
  • Rahel
  • Raechel
  • Rachell
  • Rae
  • Rachela
  • Ráhel
  • Rahela
  • Raakel
Etymology

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

From the Wiktionary entry, CC BY-SA 4.0, shortened.

Over time

Over five years: rising in 1 of 12 regions, falling in 7.

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Rank in each place since 1996; higher on the chart is more popular.

Israel 9th 1996 to 17th 2024
1st10th100th1000th19962025
Quebec 46th 1996 to 147th 2025
1st10th100th1000th19962025
British Columbia 12th 1996 to 156th 2023
1st10th100th1000th19962025
Ireland 12th 1996 to 186th 2025
1st10th100th1000th19962025
Ontario 6th 1996 to 214th 2024
1st10th100th1000th19962025
Northern Ireland 10th 1997 to 290th 2025
1st10th100th1000th19962025

Ten years of ranks

Her rank each year, English-speaking regions first. A blank means no published rank for her that year.

Region2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
England and Wales263283323331352367395421377394
Scotland10888134136186177208250431324
Northern Ireland11291119138149139201142290
Ireland748610696115121146148189186
Ontario8489888615996135156214
British Columbia12988143157197243234156
South Australia230196
Quebec140105135116130135139132143147
France225248220240233266257265308315
The Netherlands443665419417443586594569626
Austria8731320754131058010348598251039742
Switzerland896546832548404587602546800665
Berlin665637657574782799
Norway469416496430446
Sweden789
Italy643522638829
Israel202219151315141317

England and Wales, 1996 to 2025

YearRankGirlsper 100,000 girls
202539410641.9
202437711444.2
20234219737.8
202239510740.6
202136712545.6
202035212646.9
201933113949.6
201832314751.0
201728317357.8
201626319362.8
201527217958.1
201423520968.2
201322722071.3
201221923071.4
201119027184.3
2010161325101.2
2009140396126.4
2008117451142.8
200798537175.4
200684684228.6
200579681236.2
200465861301.2
2003481,073385.0
2002441,115417.0
2001391,274475.4
2000361,417518.7
1999301,775630.1
1998291,890653.6
1997282,120723.1
1996272,105711.2

Sources: Office for National Statistics (1996-2025), OGL v3.

France since 1925

Half of the babies named Rachel in France since 1925 were born in or after 1979. First recorded in 1925. Her peak year there: 1972, at 408.2 per 100,000 girls.

025050019401960198020002020025050019602000

Babies named Rachel per 100,000 girls born in France, by five-year period. Her 1972 peak is averaged into its five-year period, so the line sits below it.

Sources: INSEE, Fichier des prénoms (édition 2025) (1900-2025), Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0.

Sister names for Rachel

  1. 1 in 660 in Ireland

  2. 1 in 1,278 in Scotland

  3. 1 in 320 in Ireland

  4. 1 in 1,921 in Ireland

  5. 1 in 1,921 in Ireland

  6. 1 in 325 in Ireland

  7. 1 in 660 in Ireland

  8. 1 in 640 in Ireland

  9. 1 in 2,641 in Ireland

  10. 1 in 311 in Ireland

All sister names for RachelDeal more sisters

Middle names for Rachel

  1. 1 in 71 in Scotland

  2. 1 in 78 in Northern Ireland

  3. 1 in 57 in Northern Ireland

  4. 1 in 99 in Scotland

  5. 1 in 311 in Ireland

  6. 1 in 88 in Scotland

  7. 1 in 162 in England and Wales

  8. 1 in 325 in Ireland

All middle names for RachelDeal more middle names

Same style as Rachel

Names whose popularity rose and fell with hers across regions and decades.

  1. 1 in 405 in Northern Ireland

  2. 1 in 271 in Ireland

  3. 1 in 660 in Ireland

  4. 1 in 2,641 in Ireland

  5. 1 in 761 in England and Wales

  6. 1 in 660 in Ireland

  7. 1 in 320 in Ireland

  8. 1 in 7,042 in Ireland

Deal more in this style

Famous people named Rachel

Rachel Carson, Rachel Weisz, Rachel McAdams, Rachel Maddow, Rachel Zegler, Rachel Corrie, Rachel Bilson and Rachel Griffiths.

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People: Wikidata (CC0), linked to Wikipedia in this page's language when an article exists.

Questions about Rachel

5 questions, on how popular she is, what it means, how to say it, whether she is rising and sister names.

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How popular is Rachel?

Her best rank is No. 17 in Israel in 2024, about 1 in 113 girls. She is in the published lists of 15 of our 40 regions.

What does Rachel mean?

Wiktionary glosses Rachel as "ewe".

How do you pronounce Rachel?

RAY-chul, with 2 syllables.

Is Rachel getting more popular?

Over five years: rising in 1 of 12 regions, falling in 7.

Which sister names go with Rachel?

The deck's top five sisters for Rachel: Rebecca, Elise, Eve, Joanna and Claire. Each is scored on style, era, popularity and origin, with sound clashes flagged.

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