Rachel

Meaning

Rachel comes from the Hebrew name Rahhel, usually understood to mean “ewe,” or a female lamb. In the 19th-century sources provided, it is also linked with the idea of “motherhood” or maternity, though that is presented as an interpretive gloss rather than the primary etymology. The biblical Rachel is remembered as Jacob’s beloved wife and the mother of Joseph and Benjamin.

Origin

Fun fact

One of the excerpts notes Rachel as a name associated with a ewe, and another links it to the biblical figure admired for beauty and contemplation in later literary tradition.