Rahel
A feminine name of Hebrew origin meaning "ewe" or "beloved one".
Name Census estimates that about 485 living Americans carry the first name Rahel. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Rahel today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rahel births was 1996 (23 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rahel. 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 Rahel with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
485
~ 1 in 706,710 Americans
Peak year
1996
23 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2024 SSA rank
#14,831
Tracked since 1971
Census
Rahel in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,263 people with the first name Rahel, which placed it at #6,919 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
#6,919
National first-name rank
People counted
2.3K
2,263 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
78.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rahel
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rahel is Black at 78.3%. The next largest groups are White (12.2%) and Hispanic (3.8%). 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 Rahel 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 Rahel at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American78.3% · 1,773
- White12.2% · 275
- Hispanic or Latino3.8% · 86
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.4% · 77
- Two or more races2.2% · 50
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 2
Popularity
Rahel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rahel from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 136 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Rahel 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 Rahel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Rahels live
Origin
Meaning and history of Rahel
The name Rahel is of Hebrew origin, derived from the biblical name Rachel. The name Rachel comes from the Hebrew word "רָחֵל" (Rāchēl), which means "ewe" or "female sheep." It is a feminine name that has been in use for centuries, with its roots dating back to ancient times.
The name Rahel is mentioned in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. Rachel was the beloved wife of Jacob and the mother of Joseph and Benjamin. She was described as being beautiful and highly favored, and her story is an integral part of the biblical narrative.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Rahel can be found in the ancient Jewish text known as the Talmud, which dates back to the 3rd century CE. In the Talmud, there are references to several individuals named Rahel, indicating the name's popularity among Jewish communities during that time period.
Throughout history, the name Rahel has been borne by numerous notable figures across different cultures and faiths. One of the most famous was Rahel Varnhagen (1771-1833), a German Jewish writer and salonnière who hosted intellectual gatherings in her home in Berlin. Another prominent individual was Rahel Hirsch (1870-1953), a German Jewish educator and feminist who advocated for women's rights and education.
In the realm of literature, the name Rahel has been immortalized in several works. The German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) featured a character named Rahel in his novel "Die Leiden des jungen Werther" (The Sorrows of Young Werther). The French novelist Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850) also included a character named Rahel in his work "La Cousine Bette" (Cousin Bette).
Other notable individuals with the name Rahel include Rahel Bluwstein (1890-1931), a Hebrew poet and author who was a significant figure in the revival of the Hebrew language and literature. Rahel Liebeck (1900-1989) was a German-born Israeli actress and director who played a pivotal role in the development of Hebrew theater.
In the world of music, Rahel Carmel (1888-1975) was an Israeli singer and composer who contributed greatly to the preservation and promotion of Yemenite Jewish music. Rahel Musleah (born 1945) is an American writer, journalist, and educator who has written extensively on Jewish culture and tradition.
The name Rahel has transcended cultural and religious boundaries, making its mark across various societies and eras. While its origins can be traced back to the Hebrew Bible, the name has been embraced by diverse communities, reflecting its enduring appeal and timeless quality.
People
Rahel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rahel 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
Rahel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rahel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 485 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rahel 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 706,710 US residents.
Is Rahel a common name?
We classify Rahel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 497 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rahel most popular?
The single biggest year for Rahel was 1996, when 23 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rahel is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rahel in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,263 people with the name Rahel, or 0.75 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,919 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 Rahel 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 Rahel?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rahel leans strongly female. 2,214 people counted with this name were female (97.8%), compared with 49 male bearers (2.2%). 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 Rahel?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rahel is Black at 78.3%. The next largest groups are White (12.2%) and Hispanic (3.8%). 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 Rahel most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Rahel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.3% (1,773 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 Rahel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rahel a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rahel 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 Rahel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rahel 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 Rahel 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 are called Rahel?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.