Rechelle
A feminine given name derived from Rachel, meaning "ewe" or "female sheep".
Name Census estimates that about 565 living Americans carry the first name Rechelle. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Rechelle today is around 48 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rechelle births was 1970 (35 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rechelle. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
565
~ 1 in 606,645 Americans
Peak year
1970
35 babies that year
Average age
48
years old
2005 SSA rank
#18,543
Tracked since 1955
Census
Rechelle in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 640 people with the first name Rechelle, which placed it at #17,310 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#17,310
National first-name rank
People counted
640
640 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
41.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rechelle
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rechelle is White at 41.6%. The next largest groups are Black (29.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (13.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Rechelle described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Rechelle at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White41.6% · 266
- Black or African American29.4% · 188
- Asian and Pacific Islander13.9% · 89
- Hispanic or Latino8.9% · 57
- Two or more races5.0% · 32
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 8
Popularity
Rechelle: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rechelle from the 1950s through to the 2000s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 208 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Rechelle by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Rechelle during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Rechelles live
Origin
Meaning and history of Rechelle
The name Rechelle is a feminine given name that originated from the French language. It is a variation of the name Rachel, which is derived from the Hebrew name Rahel, meaning "ewe" or "female sheep." The name Rachel is found in the Old Testament of the Bible, where she was one of the wives of Jacob and the mother of Joseph and Benjamin.
The name Rechelle emerged as a French variant of Rachel, likely during the Middle Ages when French was the dominant language in parts of Europe. The addition of the "e" at the end of the name was a common practice in French names to make them sound more feminine.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Rechelle is found in the 13th century French epic poem "Le Roman de la Rose" (The Romance of the Rose), written by Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun. In this work, a character named Rechelle is mentioned, although it is unclear if this was a fictional name or based on a real person.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who have borne the name Rechelle. One of the earliest was Rechelle de Rochefort, a French noblewoman who lived in the 14th century. She was known for her involvement in the Hundred Years' War between England and France.
Another notable Rechelle was Rechelle de Mézières, a 16th-century French writer and scholar. She authored several works on religious and philosophical topics and was a prominent figure during the Renaissance period.
In the 18th century, Rechelle de Villeneuve was a French novelist and playwright. She is best known for her contribution to the development of the fairy tale genre, with works such as "La Belle et la Bête" (Beauty and the Beast).
Moving into the 19th century, Rechelle Ferrier was a French painter and illustrator who specialized in portraiture and genre scenes. She was a member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts and exhibited her works at the renowned Paris Salon.
Lastly, in the 20th century, Rechelle Levert was a French-Canadian actress and singer. She appeared in several films and stage productions, and her vocal talents earned her recognition as a prominent cabaret performer in Montreal during the 1950s and 1960s.
While the name Rechelle may not be as common as its counterpart Rachel, it has a rich history and has been borne by notable individuals throughout various periods and cultures, primarily in France and French-speaking regions.
People
Rechelle + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rechelle as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with R
Other first names starting with R with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Rechelle: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rechelle?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 565 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rechelle going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 606,645 US residents.
Is Rechelle a common name?
We classify Rechelle as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 628 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rechelle most popular?
The single biggest year for Rechelle was 1970, when 35 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rechelle is about 48 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rechelle in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 640 people with the name Rechelle, or 0.21 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,310 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Rechelle in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Rechelle?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rechelle appears almost entirely female. Of the 632 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Rechelle?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rechelle is White at 41.6%. The next largest groups are Black (29.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (13.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Rechelle most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Rechelle in the 2020 Census, accounting for 41.6% (266 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Rechelle in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rechelle a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rechelle in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Rechelle still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rechelle in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Rechelle can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How common is the name Rechelle?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.