Rachel Surname History

Origins Available:
Israel

The prestigious surname Rachel comes from the ancient Jewish culture. This surname is a nickname surname, which comes from the broad category of hereditary surnames. In the Middle Ages, it became necessary to adopt a second name, or surname, because people were moving closer together in towns and cities, and it was becoming difficult to identify people with the same first names. The surname Rachel is a metronymic surname, which means that it comes from the given name of the mother of the bearer. The Hebrew name Rachel became Reichel, in German-Yiddish, and it is from this given name that the surname Rachel derives.

Rachel Ranking

In the United States, the name Rachel is the 12,538^th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 1

Rachel migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Rachel Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Georg Fred Rachel, who landed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1802 2
J Rachel, who arrived in San Francisco, California in 1856 2

Rachel migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Rachel Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mary Rachel, aged 20, a servant, who arrived in South Australia in 1854 aboard the ship "Trafalgar" 3

Contemporary Notables of the name Rachel (post 1700) +

Wesley Adam Rachel (b. 1976), American second baseman
Stuart Rachel (b. 1969), American International Master of chess and the son of the philosopher James Rachel
James Rachel (1941-2003), American philosopher
Adam Rachel (b. 1976), English professional football goalkeeper
Élisa Rachel (1821-1858), French actress
Dr. Ruth Rachel Caleb M.B.E., British Chair for Mental Wellbeing in Higher Education Working Group and Head of Counselling for Brunel University London, was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire on 8th June 2018, for services to Higher Education 4
Cressida Rachel Jupp (b. 1977), British television producer and the editor of Panorama
Lynn Rachel Redgrave OBE (1943-2010), English Academy Award and Golden Globe nominated actress, daughter of Michael Redgrave
Janis Rachel Lomax (b. 1945), Welsh economist, former Deputy Governor of the Bank of England
Sharon Rachel Osbourne (b. 1952), née Arden, British TV personality and wife of Ozzy Osbourne

Citations +

"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
South Australian Register Thursday 29th June 1854. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) Trafalgar 1854. Retrieved http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/australia/trafalgar1854.shtml
"Birthday and New Year Honours Lists (1940 to 2019)." Issue 62507, 28 December 2018 | London Gazette, The Gazette, Dec. 2018, www.thegazette.co.uk/honours-lists