Rachel Whitley
There are approximately 42 people named Rachel Whitley living in the United States today. That makes this name combination very rare, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 8,160,818 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Rachel with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Whitley. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and Census demographics where available.
Expected bearers
42
1 in 8,160,818
Named Rachel
491K
Alive today
Named Whitley
29K
Alive today
US population
343M
Denominator
Estimated living: 491K
Rarity: Common
Gender: Female
Peak year: 1985
Average age: 38
Top Census group: White (78.1%)
Estimated bearers: 29K
Rarity: Uncommon
Census rank: #1,366
Per 100K: 8.49
Top ancestry: White (69.4%)
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
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rachel
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the first name Rachel, from the 2020 US Census Bureau first-name tables. The largest published group is White at 78.1%.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Rachel described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. These are self-reported numbers, and they describe the population who happened to carry the name Rachel at the time of the Census. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity.
- White78.1% · 385,771
- Hispanic or Latino9.3% · 45,907
- Black or African American4.7% · 23,038
- Two or more races3.8% · 18,570
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.6% · 17,628
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 2,806
Ethnicity
Ancestry of the Whitley surname
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the surname Whitley, from the 2020 US Census Bureau. The largest group is White at 69.4%.
The bar chart below shows how people with the surname Whitley described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. These are self-reported numbers, and they describe the population who happened to carry the surname Whitley at the time of the Census. A surname does not determine a person's race or ethnicity.
- White69.4% · 17,601
- Black or African American22.5% · 5,699
- Two or more races4.0% · 1,026
- Hispanic or Latino3.1% · 786
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 147
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 108
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).
Even though the Census Bureau now publishes first-name tables, we do not use that file as the main first-name input for this estimate. The latest first-name Census snapshot is from 2020, which makes it 6 years old today. Because Census first-name data is only released once every 10 years, SSA birth records plus CDC survival rates give a better current estimate of how many people are likely alive with the name Rachel right now.
The surname Whitley appears at a rate of 8.49 per 100,000 residents in the 2020 Census Bureau surname file, which translates to a frequency of 0.0085%.
Multiplying these two independent frequencies against the current US population of 342,754,338 gives an expected count of approximately 42 people with the full name Rachel Whitley. 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
FAQ
Rachel Whitley: questions and answers
How many people are named Rachel Whitley?
We estimate approximately 42 people in the United States share the full name Rachel Whitley. That works out to about 1 in 8,160,818 Americans. This is calculated by combining the first-name frequency (0.1433%) with the surname frequency (8.49 per 100K) against the current US population.
How rare is the name Rachel Whitley?
We classify Rachel Whitley as "Very Rare". About 1 in 8,160,818 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 2020 US Census Bureau decennial surname tables. Living-bearer estimates use CDC actuarial life tables to adjust for mortality. Read the full methodology.
How many people are called Rachel Whitley?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.