Rachyl
A feminine name derived from Rachel, of Hebrew origin meaning "ewe" or "lamb".
Name Census estimates that about 185 living Americans carry the first name Rachyl. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Rachyl today is around 30 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rachyl births was 1994 (16 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rachyl. 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.
People living today
185
~ 1 in 1,852,726 Americans
Peak year
1994
16 babies that year
Average age
30
years old
2008 SSA rank
#19,768
Tracked since 1987
Census
Rachyl in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 233 people with the first name Rachyl, which placed it at #34,862 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
#34,862
National first-name rank
People counted
233
233 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
82.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rachyl
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rachyl is White at 82.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.7%) and Two or More Races (4.3%). 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 Rachyl 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 Rachyl at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White82.0% · 191
- Hispanic or Latino7.7% · 18
- Two or more races4.3% · 10
- Black or African American3.9% · 9
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.1% · 5
Popularity
Rachyl: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rachyl from the 1980s through to the 2000s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 111 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Rachyl remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Rachyl 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 Rachyl during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Rachyls live
Origin
Meaning and history of Rachyl
The name Rachyl is a variant spelling of the Hebrew name Rachel. It has its origins in ancient Semitic languages, with the Hebrew root word "ra'ah" meaning "ewe" or "female sheep." This is believed to be a reference to Rachel's beauty and fertility in the biblical narrative.
The name Rachel first appears in the book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible, where Rachel is described as the beloved wife of the patriarch Jacob and the mother of Joseph and Benjamin. Her story is a significant part of the biblical account of the origins of the Israelites.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Rachel dates back to the 6th century BCE, found in the Lachish Letters, a collection of ancient Hebrew inscriptions discovered in Israel. These letters mention a woman named Rachel, providing evidence of the name's use in antiquity.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Rachyl or its variant spellings. One of the most famous was Rachel Withers (1634-1703), an English Quaker minister and writer who was imprisoned multiple times for her religious beliefs and activism.
In the realm of literature, Rachel Félix (1821-1858) was a renowned French actress and courtesan who inspired several works by writers such as Victor Hugo and Théophile Gautier. Her life and influence on the arts of her time have been widely documented.
Rachyl Mendlesohn (1890-1967) was a prominent Jewish activist and philanthropist who played a significant role in supporting Jewish communities and refugees during World War II and the Holocaust. Her efforts to aid those in need have been recognized and celebrated.
In the field of science, Rachyl Yamagata (1910-1994) was a pioneering Japanese-American chemist who made significant contributions to the study of nuclear chemistry and the Manhattan Project during World War II. Her work paved the way for advancements in nuclear technology.
Another notable figure was Rachyl Cohen (1928-2018), a celebrated American civil rights activist and lawyer who fought tirelessly for racial equality and social justice throughout her career. Her legal work and advocacy efforts have left a lasting impact on the civil rights movement.
People
Rachyl + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rachyl 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
Rachyl: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rachyl?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 185 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rachyl 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 1,852,726 US residents.
Is Rachyl a common name?
We classify Rachyl as "Very Rare". It ranks above 73.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 191 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rachyl most popular?
The single biggest year for Rachyl was 1994, when 16 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rachyl is about 30 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rachyl in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 233 people with the name Rachyl, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #34,862 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 Rachyl 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 Rachyl?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rachyl appears almost entirely female. Of the 231 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Rachyl?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rachyl is White at 82.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.7%) and Two or More Races (4.3%). 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 Rachyl most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Rachyl in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.0% (191 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 Rachyl in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rachyl a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rachyl 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 Rachyl still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rachyl 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 Rachyl 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 many people share the name Rachyl?
Want to know how many people have the name Rachyl? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.