How popular is the baby name Rachel in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Rachel.

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Popularity of the baby name Rachel


Posts that mention the name Rachel

The 17 children of Charles Willson Peale

American painter Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827)
Charles Willson Peale

Charles Willson Peale (b. 1741) was an American painter. Today he is known not just for his paintings, but also for naming many of his children after painters (and other famous people).

With his first wife Rachel Brewer (m. 1762) he had eleven children:

  • Margaret Jane Peale (b. 1763)
  • James Willson Peale (b. 1765)
  • Eleanor Peale (b. 1770)
  • Margaret Van Bordley Peale (b. 1772)
  • Raphaelle Peale (b. 1774) – named for Raphael
  • Angelica Kauffmann Peale (b.1775) – named for Angelica Kauffman
  • Rembrandt Peale (b. 1778) – named for Rembrandt
    • Another person named after Rembrandt was the brother of car manufacturer Ettore Bugatti.
  • Titian Ramsay Peale (b. 1780) – named for Titian
  • Rubens Peale (b. 1784) – named for Rubens
  • Sophonisba Anguissola Peale (b. 1786) – named for Sophonisba Anguissola
  • Rosalba Carriera Peale (b. 1788) – named for Rosalba Carriera

Rachel died in 1790. Peale married his second wife, Elizabeth de Peyster, in 1791 and had six more children:

  • Vandyke Peale (b. 1792) – named for Anthony van Dyck
  • Charles Linnaeus Peale (b. 1794) – named for Carl Linnaeus
  • Benjamin Franklin Peale (b. 1795) – named for Benjamin Franklin
  • Sybilla Miriam Peale (b. 1797) – named for Maria Sibylla Merian
  • Titian Ramsay Peale (b. 1799) – whose older brother Titian died in 1798
  • Elizabeth De Peyster Peale (b. 1802)

Like names in the Tollemache-Tollemache and Foss-Smith families, names in the Peale family got increasingly inventive over time.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Charles Willson Peale Self-Portrait (public domain)

Where did the baby name Kiefer come from in 1988?

Kiefer Sutherland in Stand By Me (1986)

Actor Donald Sutherland and his second wife, Shirley Douglas, welcomed twins in late 1966. One of the twins was a baby girl named Rachel, the other was a baby boy named Kiefer after “Warren Kiefer,” alias of Lorenzo Sabatini, who had written and directed Donald’s first film, Castle of the Living Dead (1964).

The baby name Kiefer ended up debuting impressively (tied for 44th highest of all time!) in the SSA’s baby name data in 1988, thanks to Kiefer Sutherland’s success in films like The Lost Boys (1987) and Young Guns (1988).

  • 1993: 97 baby boys named Kiefer
  • 1992: 114 baby boys named Kiefer
  • 1991: 204 baby boys named Kiefer [rank: 709th]
  • 1990: 143 baby boys named Kiefer [rank: 855th]
  • 1989: 93 baby boys named Kiefer
  • 1988: 35 baby boys named Kiefer [debut]
  • 1987: unlisted
  • 1986: unlisted

The name even reached the boys’ top 1,000 for a couple of years (1990 & 1991). It’s sudden trendiness gave similar names like Keifer, Kieffer, and Keefer a boost as well.

The German surname Kiefer has several possible derivations. In some families it was originally an occupational name for a cooper or someone who kept a wine cellar (from Middle High German kuofe, “barrel”), in others it began as a nickname for a quarrelsome person (Middle High German kiffen, “to quarrel”), and in others it was simply an ornamental name referring to a pine tree (German kiefer, “pine”).

What are your thoughts on the baby name Kiefer?

Sources:

  • Marks, Michele. “Ask Michele.” Southeast Missourian 22 Apr. 1993: 2.
  • Hanks, Patrick. (Ed.) Dictionary of American Family Names. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.

Baby name story: Blake

cars on the road

Here’s how Rachel Viscio of East Haven, Connecticut, chose a name for her son:

When we found out we were having a boy, we had a lot of trouble deciding on a name. While driving, the person in front of me had the license plate ‘BLAKE.’ I decided it had a nice ring, but still was not sure until in the next few minutes I stopped at a light right under Blake Street. That was it!

Have any of you guys likewise found a baby name via synchronicity?

Source: Shelton, Jim. “Every baby name has a story?” New Haven Register 11 May 2010.

Image: Adapted from Florida I10eb Blackwater River by Michael Rivera under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Popular baby names in New York City, 2007

Flag of New York
Flag of New York

According to New York City’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the most popular baby names in the city last year were Isabella/Sophia (tied) and Daniel.

Here are New York City’s top 50+ girl names and top 50+ boy names of 2007:

Girl names

  1. Isabella, 539 baby girls (tie)
  2. Sophia, 539 (tie)
  3. Emily, 525
  4. Ashley, 480
  5. Sarah, 425
  6. Kayla, 414
  7. Mia, 381
  8. Olivia, 375
  9. Samantha, 368
  10. Rachel, 359
  11. Madison, 345
  12. Ava, 330
  13. Brianna, 316
  14. Emma, 286
  15. Sofia, 276
  16. Abigail, 272 (tie)
  17. Chloe, 272 (tie)
  18. Angelina, 265 (tie)
  19. Victoria, 265 (tie)
  20. Elizabeth, 261 (tie)
  21. Leah, 261 (tie)
  22. Nicole, 250
  23. Julia, 249
  24. Alexandra, 247
  25. Esther, 244
  26. Michelle, 234 (tie)
  27. Sara, 234 (tie)
  28. Alyssa, 231
  29. Maya, 227
  30. Gabriella, 223
  31. Jessica, 216
  32. Hannah, 202
  33. Arianna, 186
  34. Chaya, 184
  35. Ella, 182
  36. Anna, 179
  37. Katherine, 177
  38. Melanie, 176
  39. Natalie, 175
  40. Jada, 174
  41. Jasmine, 169 (tie)
  42. Sophie, 169 (tie)
  43. Miriam, 168
  44. Jennifer, 167
  45. Amanda, 164
  46. Grace, 160
  47. Zoe, 158
  48. Alexa, 156 (tie)
  49. Hailey, 156 (tie)
  50. Ariana, 154 (tie)
  51. Maria, 154 (tie)

Boy names

  1. Daniel, 865 baby boys
  2. Jayden, 846
  3. Michael, 801
  4. Matthew, 778
  5. Justin, 738
  6. Joshua, 719
  7. David, 705
  8. Anthony, 664
  9. Christopher, 652
  10. Joseph, 617
  11. Ryan, 576
  12. Ethan, 524
  13. Alexander, 503
  14. Kevin, 496
  15. Jacob, 474
  16. Brandon, 463
  17. Nicholas, 458
  18. Jonathan, 452
  19. John, 448
  20. Christian, 445
  21. William, 435
  22. Andrew, 424
  23. Jason, 414
  24. James, 377
  25. Elijah, 359
  26. Angel, 357
  27. Benjamin, 350
  28. Dylan, 347
  29. Samuel, 343
  30. Aaron, 334
  31. Gabriel, 327
  32. Eric, 301 (tie)
  33. Jaden, 301 (tie)
  34. Brian, 283
  35. Jack, 282
  36. Tyler, 276
  37. Noah, 269
  38. Jordan, 265
  39. Luis, 264
  40. Sebastian, 260
  41. Jose, 249
  42. Sean, 247
  43. Adam, 243
  44. Jeremiah, 242
  45. Henry, 239
  46. Isaiah, 238
  47. Thomas, 234
  48. Xavier, 232
  49. Bryan, 230
  50. Aidan, 228 (tie)
  51. Aiden, 228 (tie)

Jayden jumped from 10th place in 2006 to 2nd place in 2007, impressively.

If all the different spellings of Jayden (e.g., Jaden, Jaiden, Jadon, Jaeden, Jaydon, Jaidyn, Jaydan, Jaydin) had been counted together, in fact, the entire name-group would have easily overtaken Daniel with a grand total of more than 1,340 baby boys.

The top baby names within specific ethnic/racial groups were…

Top girl nameTop boy name
HispanicAshleyJayden
AsianSophiaRyan
Non-Hispanic WhiteSarahMichael
Non-Hispanic BlackMadisonJayden

Among the names given to just 10 babies each in NYC last year were the girl names Binta, Djeneba, Fraida, Rowan, and Suki, and the boy names Aditya, Karim, Milton, Shimshon, and Wolf.

One year earlier, NYC’s top names (overall) were Ashley and Michael.

Source: Popular Baby Names – NYC.gov (pdf)

Image: Adapted from Flag of New York (public domain)

[Latest update: Nov. 2025]