Raechel
A feminine name of Hebrew origin meaning "ewe" or "little lamb".
Name Census estimates that about 2,157 living Americans carry the first name Raechel. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Raechel today is around 36 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Raechel births was 1991 (114 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Raechel. 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
2.2K
~ 1 in 158,903 Americans
Peak year
1991
114 babies that year
Average age
36
years old
2017 SSA rank
#17,851
Tracked since 1916
Popularity
Raechel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Raechel from the 1910s through to the 2010s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 821 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Raechel 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 Raechel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Raechels live
The SSA's state-level files cover 16 states and territories. California, Michigan, Illinois recorded the most babies named Raechel, while Virginia, North Carolina, Indiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 34 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Raechel
The name Raechel is a variant spelling of the Hebrew name Rachel, which derives from the Biblical Hebrew word רָחֵל (rachel), meaning "ewe" or "female sheep". It is an ancient Semitic name that has been in use for thousands of years, with its origins tracing back to the Hebrew Bible, where Rachel was the beloved wife of the patriarch Jacob and the mother of Joseph and Benjamin.
The earliest recorded instance of the name Rachel appears in the Book of Genesis, which is believed to have been written between the 8th and 6th centuries BCE. Rachel is described as beautiful and deeply loved by her husband Jacob, who worked for her father Laban for 14 years to earn her hand in marriage.
Throughout history, the name Rachel has been borne by several notable figures. One of the earliest was Rachel of Mainz, a Jewish woman who was martyred during the Rhineland massacres of 1096 CE, at the start of the First Crusade. She is revered as a Jewish martyr for refusing to convert to Christianity.
Another famous Rachel was Rachel Félix (1821-1858), a French actress and courtesan who was known for her striking beauty and influential social circle. She was the subject of numerous works of art and literature during her lifetime.
In the realm of literature, the name Rachel is associated with Rachel Vinrace, the protagonist of Virginia Woolf's 1915 novel "The Voyage Out". The novel explores themes of identity, societal expectations, and the constraints faced by women in the early 20th century.
One of the most renowned figures to bear the name Raechel is Raechel Ray, the American television personality, author, and businesswoman, born in 1968. She is best known for her popular cooking shows, including "30 Minute Meals" and "Rachael Ray", which have helped to promote her culinary brand and products.
In the field of music, Raechel Yamagata is an American singer-songwriter born in 1977. She is known for her introspective and poetic songwriting, and has released several critically acclaimed albums, including "Happenstance" (2004) and "Tightrope Walker" (2016).
People
Raechel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Raechel 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
Raechel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Raechel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,157 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Raechel 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 158,903 US residents.
Is Raechel a common name?
We classify Raechel as "Rare". It ranks above 94% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,276 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Raechel most popular?
The single biggest year for Raechel was 1991, when 114 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Raechel is about 36 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Raechel a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Raechel 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.
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.