Names That Mean Ewe

Rachel was derived from the Hebrew word rāchēl, meaning "ewe." In the Old Testament, Rachel was the favorite wife of Jacob, and mother of Joseph and Benjamin. International variations include the Spanish Raquel and Israeli Rahel.

All the old ae/ay middle names for girls are back--Kay, Fay, Mae/May, --and Rae is one of the coolest, used as such by celebrities as Mark Wahlberg and Daniel Baldwin.

Like many single-syllable R names right now, Raye is on the rise.

This form of the Biblical Rachel is well-used despite its somewhat counter-intuitive spelling which can make English speakers think the name should be pronounced with a k sound, as in Raquel. The spelling may be inspired by Michael, but it's pronounced just like Rachel, with a soft ch. Lately it's on the decline, dropping more than 100 places in 2009 and leaving the US Top 1000 in 2013.

Rae is one of the coolest middle name choices: why not leave it at that?