Rachel (given name)

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Rachel
Dante's Vision of Rachel and Leah.jpg
Dante's Vision of Rachel and Leah, the Biblical Rachel and Leah by Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1855)
Pronunciation/ˈrəl/ RAY-chəl,
French: [ʁaˈʃɛl],
German: [ʁaˈxɛl] (Germany) or [raˈxɛl] (Austria/Switzerland),
Dutch: [ˈrɑxɛl]
GenderFemale
Origin
Word/nameHebrew
Meaningewe, one with purity
Other names
Nickname(s)Rae, Rach
Related namesRachael, Rae, Rahel, Raquel

Rachel (Hebrew: רָחֵל, Modern: Raḥel, Tiberian: Rāḫēl, Rāḥēl), meaning "ewe",[1][2] is a feminine given name. It is best known as the name of Biblical Rachel.

Ashkenazi Jewish matronymic surnames Rokhlin (variants: Rochlin, Rohlin), Raskin, Raskine, Rashkin, Rashkind are derived from variants of the name. The surname Ruskin may be an Americanized form of Raskin.[3]

Sixteenth century baptismal records from England show that Rachel was first used by English Christians in the mid-1500s, becoming popular during the Protestant Reformation along with other names from the Christian Bible.[4]

Usage

The name has been among the five hundred most commonly used names in recent years for newborn girls in France, Ireland, Israel, United Kingdom and the United States.[5][6] [7] [8] [9]

Variants

  • Rachey, Rahel, Rocha, Rochel, Rochie, Rochale, Rochele, Rochlin, Recha, Reche, Reichil, Rela, Releh, Relin, Reiyelina, Rekel, Rikel, Rikla, Rikle, Rasha, Rashe, Rashi, Rashel, Rachelle, Rashil, Rashka, Rashke[10]
  • Rashka, Rashke, Slavic-language-influences Ashkenazi Jewish Yiddish-language, diminutive
  • Recha, a diminutive; an example is Rachel (Recha), the daughter of the protagonist of the 1779 play Nathan the Wise.[11]

In various languages

People named Rachel

People named Rachael

People named Rachelle

People named Rahel

People named Rachele

People named Rakel or Raakel

Fictional characters named Rachel (or variants thereof)

See also

References

  1. ^ "Strong's Hebrew: 7353. רָחֵל (rachel) – ewe". Biblehub.com. Retrieved 2015-12-17.
  2. ^ "Leah and Rachel (No. 295)". Ccg.org. Retrieved 2015-12-17.
  3. ^ ' Dictionary of American Family Names , as cited by ancestry.com
  4. ^ Redmonds, George, Christian Names in Local and Family History, Dundurn Press, 2004, ISBN 1-55002-507-4 p. 41
  5. ^ "Outil interactif sur les prénoms".
  6. ^ "Introduction - CSO - Central Statistics Office".
  7. ^ "Baby names in England and Wales - Office for National Statistics".
  8. ^ "Popular Baby Names".
  9. ^ "101 Most Popular Jewish Girls Names in Israel in 2019 - B&F: Jewish Genealogy and More". 9 November 2020.
  10. ^ Rabbi Shmuel Gorr, Jewish Personal Names: Their Origin, Derivation, and Diminutive Forms, 1992, ISBN 0962637327 p. 75 (also an online list by the author, based on the book)
  11. ^ Frederick Quinn, The Sum of All Heresies: The Image of Islam in Western Thought, p. 85
  12. ^ Lansky, Bruce, 100,000+ Baby Names: The most helpful, complete, & up-to-date name book Da Capo Lifelong Books; Revised edition (July 9, 2019), ISBN 978-0-306-922985