How common is the name Rachel?

493,726 people in the United States have the first name Rachel, about 1 in 612. It ranks #90 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

RACHEL

#90

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
493,726
About
1 in 612
This common or more
28.7%
Who bears it

Of the 493,726 people named Rachel, 78.1% reported their origin as White, 9.3% as Hispanic or Latino and 4.7% as Black. Virtually all are female (99.9%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Rachel peaked in 1985, when 16,437 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
1985
Births that year
16,437
In 2025*
1,225 ▼93%
Recorded as
almost entirely female

At least 575,748 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Rachel by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1990s, when it ranked #41. The largest share of babies named Rachel, 43%, were born between 1981 and 1996, as millennials.

1880s#2012,128
1890s#1903,284
1900s#2173,979
1910s#26210,526
1920s#28714,274
1930s#30312,366
1940s#33113,464
1950s#36516,849
1960s#27326,881
1970s#7778,040
1980s#44147,336
1990s#41149,427
2000s#9768,521
2010s#35121,093
2020s#5247,580
Before 19011%
Greatest Generation 1901–274.5%
Silent Generation 1928–453.9%
Baby boom 1946–645.7%
Generation X 1965–8018.5%
Millennials 1981–9643%
Generation Z 1997–1219.9%
2013 and later3.6%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Rachel is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Rachel has been most common in Alaska (1.6×), Utah (1.5×), and New Hampshire (1.4×), and least common in Mississippi (0.73×).

563,565 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Rachel

#88 Pamela · 495,991#89 Aaron · 494,237#91 Luis · 489,968#92 Christine · 482,596

Spelled almost the same

8 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Rachel, most common first.

#692 Rachael · 75,096#2,568 Racheal · 9,384#5,407 Rachell · 3,184#5,455 Rachele · 3,150#7,298 Raechel · 2,102#9,454 Rachal · 1,468#9,700 Raychel · 1,418#10,804 Rashel · 1,215

Also a last name

As a last name, Rachel ranks #15,273 of 156,621, with 1,851 people. See Rachel as a last name

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