Rachel Carson
There are approximately 95 people named Rachel Carson living in the United States today. That makes this name combination very rare, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 3,607,940 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Rachel with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Carson. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and ancestry information.
Expected bearers
95
1 in 3,607,940
Named Rachel
491K
Alive today
Named Carson
66K
Alive today
US population
343M
Denominator
Estimated living: 491K
Rarity: Common
Gender: Female
Peak year: 1985
Average age: 38
Estimated bearers: 66K
Rarity: Uncommon
Census rank: #593
Per 100K: 19.28
Top ancestry: White (72.3%)
First name trend
Rachel: popularity over time
Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name Rachel. The peak year was 1985 with 16,438 births. The average person named Rachel today is 38 years old.
Babies born per year
Ethnicity
Ancestry of the Carson surname
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the surname Carson, from the 2010 US Census Bureau. The largest group is White at 72.3%.
- White72.3%
- Black or African American21.7%
- Hispanic or Latino2.4%
- Two or more races2.3%
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8%
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6%
Methodology
How we calculated this
The first name Rachel has a living-bearer frequency of 0.1433% of the US population, based on 491,323 estimated living Americans carrying this first name (from SSA birth records going back to 1880, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables).
The surname Carson appears at a rate of 19.28 per 100,000 residents in the 2010 Census Bureau surname file, which translates to a frequency of 0.0193%.
Multiplying these two independent frequencies against the current US population of 342,754,338 gives an expected count of approximately 95 people with the full name Rachel Carson. This assumes statistical independence between first and last names, which is a simplification but produces reasonable estimates for most combinations.
Related
Other people named Rachel
Related
Other people with the surname Carson
FAQ
Rachel Carson: questions and answers
How many people are named Rachel Carson?
We estimate approximately 95 people in the United States share the full name Rachel Carson. That works out to about 1 in 3,607,940 Americans. This is calculated by combining the first-name frequency (0.1433%) with the surname frequency (19.28 per 100K) against the current US population.
How rare is the name Rachel Carson?
We classify Rachel Carson as "Very Rare". About 1 in 3,607,940 Americans share this exact first and last name combination.
Is Rachel a male or female name?
Rachel is predominantly female. Out of 574,486 total SSA registrations, 0.3% were male and 99.7% were female. See the full Rachel profile for detailed gender data.
Where does this data come from?
First-name data comes from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files (1880 to 2024). Surname data comes from the 2010 US Census Bureau decennial surname tables. Living-bearer estimates use CDC actuarial life tables to adjust for mortality. Read the full methodology.