’90s TV Shows Are Influencing Baby Names. Will This Jewish Baby Name Get a Revival?

Babycenter — the website whose data accurately predicted that Eliana would enter the top ten baby names for girls in 2025 — is noticing a new trend: Parents are giving their babies names from Y2K-era TV shows.

Cited in Babycenter’s theory: Troy and Gabriella are both up (from “High School Musical”), and so are Callie, Derek, Miranda and Arizona (from “Grey’s Anatomy”).

But most interesting to us are two names in particular: Monica, which jumped nearly 125 spots, entering the top 1000, and Ross, which skyrocketed 756 spots, moving it into the top 2000.

Ross and Monica are, of course, the Jewish Geller siblings, played by David Schwimmer and Courteney Cox, respectively, from the legendary sitcom “Friends.” (Neither Ross nor Monica is a Jewish name, but it is important to note that Monica does rhyme with Hanukkah, which feels at least Jewish-adjacent.)

It’s hard to explain how deeply and for how long “Friends” permeated the zeitgeist to someone who has grown up streaming whatever they want, whenever they want. Ross, Monica and the rest of “the gang” were basically part of my childhood — I was invested in their lives and especially in their relationships. It’s hard to even say the name Ross without adding “and Rachel.”

Which begs the question: If ‘90s TV names are on the rise, is it time for a resurgence of the Jewish name Rachel?

Rachel, which means “ewe,” a female sheep, was one of the four biblical matriarchs. She was Jacob’s second wife — she was supposed to be his first wife, but her father tricked him into marrying her older sister, Leah, instead. After struggling with infertility, Rachel gave birth to Joseph (of technicolor dreamcoat fame).

The name has been in the top 1000 baby names for girls since this data was first recorded, in 1900. It really took off around 1970, thanks to a convergence of cultural influences: First, in 1967, the soap opera “Another World” introduced the diabolical character Rachel Davis, who was played by Jewish actress Robyn Strasser and would go on to be one of the show’s most iconic characters. Then in 1968, Jewish dreamboat Paul Newman directed his wife Joanne Woodward in the steamy, Oscar-nominated and Golden Globe-winning film “Rachel, Rachel.” Pop culture impacts notwithstanding, 1970s parents were turning to biblical names in a way they hadn’t in the decades prior.

Once Rachel broke through in the early 1970s, it remained a staple through the ‘70s,‘80s and ‘90s, peaking at number 9 in 1996 — two years after “Friends” premiered and Jennifer Aniston made her debut as Rachel Green (who, the show’s creators have confirmed, was Jewish). By 2011, it was out of the top 100 baby names in the U.S. Today it’s hovering around 250. 

Baby name experts would probably argue that, no, Rachel won’t experience a resurgence anytime soon. In 1988, the founders of the website Nameberry coined “the 100-year rule,” which still holds up: Names are popular every 100 years. With that in mind, Rachel probably won’t hit its peak again until closer to 2100 (a date which we must acknowledge does not seem real.) A rep from Babycenter apologetically confirmed to me that Rachel hasn’t seen the same rise as Ross and Monica.

So, maybe the 1225 babies born this year in the U.S. with the name Rachel will be the only Rachels in their class, or even their school. But I’m not convinced. I feel a mini Rachel renaissance coming. Maybe we should make it happen.