Rachal
Female name derived from Hebrew meaning "ewe" or "little female lamb".
Name Census estimates that about 1,231 living Americans carry the first name Rachal. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Rachal today is around 41 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rachal births was 1986 (59 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rachal. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Rachal with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.2K
~ 1 in 278,436 Americans
Peak year
1986
59 babies that year
Average age
41
years old
2008 SSA rank
#19,766
Tracked since 1925
Census
Rachal in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,472 people with the first name Rachal, which placed it at #9,430 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#9,430
National first-name rank
People counted
1.5K
1,472 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
76.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rachal
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rachal is White at 76.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (10.4%) and Black (7.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Rachal described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Rachal at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White76.0% · 1,118
- Hispanic or Latino10.4% · 153
- Black or African American7.0% · 103
- Two or more races3.7% · 55
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.1% · 31
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 12
Popularity
Rachal: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rachal from the 1920s through to the 2000s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 483 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Rachal by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Rachal during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Rachals live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. Louisiana, Texas, California recorded the most babies named Rachal, while Pennsylvania, New York, Washington recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 30 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Rachal
The name Rachal is believed to have originated from the Hebrew language and culture, with its roots dating back to ancient times. The name is derived from the Hebrew word "rachel," which means "ewe" or "female sheep." It is a biblical name, appearing in the Old Testament as the name of the beloved wife of Jacob and the mother of Joseph and Benjamin.
In the Book of Genesis, Rachel is portrayed as a beautiful and cherished woman who struggled with infertility for many years before giving birth to Joseph. Her story is central to the narrative of the Israelites and their journey to the Promised Land. Rachel's name has since become a symbol of love, devotion, and maternal sacrifice.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Rachal can be found in the Dead Sea Scrolls, ancient Jewish religious manuscripts dating back to the third century BCE. The name was also mentioned in various rabbinic literature and Jewish historical records throughout the centuries.
Historically, several notable figures have borne the name Rachal or its variants. One of the earliest was Rachel of Tarsus, a Christian martyr from the third century CE, who was revered for her unwavering faith and courage in the face of persecution.
In the Middle Ages, Rachel de Lunel, a 13th-century Jewish scholar and poet from Provence, France, gained recognition for her contributions to Hebrew literature and her wisdom in interpreting sacred texts.
During the Renaissance period, Rachal Ruysch (1664-1750), a Dutch artist and naturalist, became renowned for her exquisite still-life paintings and her expertise in preserving and studying anatomical specimens.
In the 19th century, Rachal Bartlett (1837-1904), an American writer and activist, played a significant role in the women's suffrage movement and advocated for educational reforms.
More recently, Rachal Leigh Cook (born 1979), an American actress, rose to fame for her roles in films such as "She's All That" and "Josie and the Pussycats," showcasing her talent and versatility on the big screen.
People
Rachal + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rachal as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with R
Other first names starting with R with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Rachal: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rachal?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,231 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rachal going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 278,436 US residents.
Is Rachal a common name?
We classify Rachal as "Rare". It ranks above 91.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,323 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rachal most popular?
The single biggest year for Rachal was 1986, when 59 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rachal is about 41 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rachal in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,472 people with the name Rachal, or 0.49 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,430 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Rachal in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Rachal?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rachal appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,468 people counted with this name, 99.5% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Rachal?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rachal is White at 76.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (10.4%) and Black (7.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Rachal most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Rachal in the 2020 Census, accounting for 76.0% (1,118 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Rachal in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rachal a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rachal in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Rachal still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rachal in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Rachal can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How common is the name Rachal?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the name Rachal at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.