Rashelle
A feminine name of French origin, possibly derived from Rachel meaning "ewe".
Name Census estimates that about 1,279 living Americans carry the first name Rashelle. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Rashelle today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rashelle births was 1989 (50 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rashelle. 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
1.3K
~ 1 in 267,986 Americans
Peak year
1989
50 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
2019 SSA rank
#15,174
Tracked since 1955
Popularity
Rashelle: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rashelle from the 1950s through to the 2010s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 405 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
Rashelle 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 Rashelle during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Rashelles live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. California, Utah, Ohio recorded the most babies named Rashelle, while Washington, Texas, Florida recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 27 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Rashelle
The name Rashelle has its origins in the French language and culture. It is a feminine form of the French name Rachelle, which is derived from the Hebrew name Rachel. The name Rachel comes from the Biblical Hebrew name רָחֵל (Rāḥēl), which means "ewe" or "female sheep" in Hebrew.
Rashelle is a relatively modern variant of the name, with the earliest recorded instances dating back to the late 19th century. The addition of the "sh" sound in the spelling was likely influenced by the popularity of French names with similar spellings.
While the name Rashelle does not appear directly in ancient texts or religious scriptures, its root name Rachel is well-known from the Bible. In the Book of Genesis, Rachel is the beloved wife of Jacob and the mother of Joseph and Benjamin.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Rashelle was Rashelle Barton, an American actress born in 1892. She appeared in several silent films in the 1910s and 1920s.
Another notable Rashelle was Rashelle Parmenter, an American author and poet born in 1913. She published several works of fiction and poetry throughout her career.
In the field of music, Rashelle Blue was an American singer and songwriter born in 1938. She was known for her work in the blues and R&B genres.
Rashelle Giroux, born in 1949, was a Canadian politician and activist. She served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Quebec from 1989 to 2003.
Rashelle Wynters, born in 1972, is a British singer and songwriter. She has released several albums and has been active in the UK music scene since the 1990s.
While the name Rashelle has not been as widely used as its root name Rachel, it has gained popularity in various parts of the world over the past century, particularly in the United States, Canada, and parts of Europe.
People
Rashelle + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rashelle 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
Rashelle: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rashelle?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,279 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rashelle 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 267,986 US residents.
Is Rashelle a common name?
We classify Rashelle as "Rare". It ranks above 91.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,368 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rashelle most popular?
The single biggest year for Rashelle was 1989, when 50 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rashelle is about 39 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Rashelle a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rashelle 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.