Rachel

If you’re looking for a classic and popular Biblical name, you can’t go wrong with Rachel. It’s a Hebrew name with a soft and sweet meaning, ewe.

A slew of famous people bear the name, starting with the Biblical wife of Jacob. You’ll find famous environmental activist Rachel Carson; actors Weisz, Dratch, McAdams, Griffiths, Zegler, and Bilson; and journalist Rachel Maddow. In pop culture, there’s Rachel Green, Jennifer Aniston’s character from Friends, Rachel Berry from Glee, and Rachel Watson, the lead character in The Girl on the Train.

Names that mean sheep or ewe include Shepherd, Drover, Ovidia, Oona, Cordero, and Hamal.

Rachel has been consistently in the top 200 baby names for girls, but packed in popularity from the 1970s to the early 2000s, when it was in the top 25 baby names for girls. It’s currently declining in popularity, but still a wonderful baby name option.

Rachel in quotes:

“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature—the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.” —Rachel Carson, Silent Spring

“It’s like all my life everyone’s told me, ‘You’re a shoe! You’re a shoe! You’re a shoe! Well, what if I don’t want to be a shoe? What if I wanna be a purse or a hat?”—Rachel Green, Friends

“Being a part of something special makes you special,”—Rachel Berry, Glee

“Hopefully life is long. Do stuff you will enjoy thinking about and telling stories about for many years to come.”—Rachel Maddow