Meaning and Origin of: Rachel

Girl name origins & meanings

  • Hebrew : Little lamb, ewe; one with purity

Family name origins & meanings

  • German (mainly Bavaria) : probably a topographic name from Middle High German rach ‘rough’, ‘steep’.
  • German : from a pet form of a Slavic personal name (see Rach).
  • German : habitational name from a place called Rachel in Bohemia.
  • French : metronymic from the female Biblical name Rachel, meaning ‘ewe’ in Hebrew. In the Bible (Genesis 28–35), Rachel is the wife of Jacob and the mother of Joseph and Benjamin.

Famous people with this first name

Famous people who gave their babies this name