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[Opinions] Rachel vs Rachael
Which spelling do you like better? Typically I like the original spellings of names, however for some reason Rachael always seemed more complete to me.
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Definitely prefer Rachel
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RachelDon't understand the extra 'a' in Rachael.

This message was edited 4/3/2016, 11:57 AM

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I happen to love Rachael, and Rachel seems not quite asthetically pleasing to me. I feel the same way about Rebekah. Love Rebekah, sort of like Rebecca.
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Neither the one nor the other.
I prefer the French/Spanish variant Raquel (as well Racquel)- the more fancy and glam version, IMHO.Ever seen these spellings ? Rael, Raelle, Rhahel, Rachelle, Raela or Rachil. (in addition Rahel) Cordialement
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Where I live, there are very few English-speaking Rach(a)els. But it's quite popular in Afrikaans, where the spelling is Rachel and the pronunciation is RAAkhel. So it would make sense to me to use the Rachael version, because it would clarify the sound.It's a very nice name, actually - not sure why I never think about it.
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Rachel gmv. I like the simplicity, and I always think Rachael is Raphael.
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Rachel. Rachael seems like a typo to me.
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Rachael.I don't like the look of Rachel.
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Love Rachel. Though, yes, compared to Rachael it does look incomplete, I suppose. Hmm, Rachael's nice too...But if I had to choose, I'd go with the spelling I'm more familiar with: Rachel.
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Rachel. Rachael just adds an unnecessary letter imo and Rachel looks far nicer to me anyway.
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Today just now, I looked up the origin of Rachael and saw that it was a variant "probably based on the spelling of Michael." Somehow I missed that before.For this reason alone I prefer it. It's got an extra letter thrown in just for looks, the pronunciation doesn't even really make sense because if it were like Michael it'd be Ray-kul not Ray-chul -- and it became frequent and normal enough like that, and is appealing enough still, that people are still asking which one is better! That makes it more interesting.I actually think Rachael looks more interesting and cooler, so I like it more. But Rachel is nice, and I often spell Rachel automatically and forget that there is a name Rachael so it's not a strong preference.

This message was edited 4/2/2016, 4:50 PM

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When I see Rachael, my first instinct is to say or think, not Ray-kul, but Rach-ay-el, and there's a two-second little mind stutter before I then think or say Ray-chul. In spite of previously saying that I had no reason for preferring Rachel, I now think that's the reason.
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Yes - I too would be tempted to pronounce Rachael differently than Rachel, so I would think the names to differ in sound by the ch(k) sound prior to the diphthong within the vowels; if the names pronounce similarly, then I am perfectly indifferent to spelling variations, leaving this to the personalized preference of the name assigner--or ultimately, the name bearer.

This message was edited 4/3/2016, 3:18 AM

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Rachael just looks really weird. Rachel is by far the better spelling. No, I'm not biased.
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I prefer Rachael.
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Clearly Rachel is superior. Rachael is an Old Testament name trying to be New Testament.Also Rachael is stinky.
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RACHAEL, FTW.Rachel is dumb and stupid and stinky, and Rachael IS MADE OF AWESOME!!! I know of what I speak.
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r00d>:(
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I prefer Rachel. No logical or deep reason, just do.
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I don't mind either one, but I would probably say that Rachel is my preferred spelling just because it's somewhat more familiar; if you were talking to me and said the name, I would assume it was Rachel.
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I prefer Rachel
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I agree. I, too, usually dislike "creative" spellings of names (in this case, modeling Rachel after Michael), but I find Rachael to be more visually appealing.However, I still don't think I'd ever name a daughter Rachael. It's a quite harsh name, imo.
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