Rachael

I like this name, but spelled the proper way - Rachel. The extra A is unnecessary, and it looks like it should be pronounced “ray-chay-al”.

I really like Rachel and when I first saw the Rachael spelling I thought it looked made up and kind of artificial. Even though it's clearly not the original spelling and I am usually partial to original spelling of classic names, my opinion on Rachael has changed and now I think this extra A makes it look kind of fuller and adds some extra character. I still prefer Rachel, but Rachael no longer feels made up or somehow a lot worse to me.

It looks weird and misspelled.

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Rachel is a classic name, why stick the extra A in there? It doesn't make any sense at all.

Although both "Rachel" and "Rachael" are great, I think "Rachael" kind of looks more complete!

This spelling is much softer and prettier than the original one. Rachel just looks too scruffy compared to this.

I remember when I was in the 5th grade. We had a substitute teacher that day. As she was taking role she called out Richard. We had no Richard in our class and I was 99% sure she meant Rachael. It was so humiliating! I look back and think, People like to call me different things but Richard, well that's a first. :)

It is a feminine form of Michael. I don't like it that way. I prefer Rachel.

Personally I love the spelling. It just looks unfinished, to me, without the second A. I’m biased as a Rachael though. I was named after my great grandmother so it’s surprising to me when people say it’s a really modern spelling because she was born in the 19th century. I also think this is a more English version of the Hebrew name, although I have known a Jewish Rachael.
All of that said, it is almost always misspelled unless someone even thinks to ask how to spell it. It is really frustrating. None of my teachers could ever seem to bother to get it right even when all my papers they read and emails they replied to had it very plainly in front of them, even after correcting them numerous times. And forget Starbucks. But I still wouldn’t change it.

It's funny to hear that because my name is spelled Rachel and people always want to spell it Rachael. People really need to ask and listen to how people spell the name if a person spells their name Rachael, it is correct. If someone spells it Rachel, it is correct.

Looks strange with the A.

I very much like this name. In fact, I default to this spelling variation rather than the common one.

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Personally, I prefer "Rachael" over "Rachel". Rachael has a bit more of a flair to it, and it is very elegant and aesthetically pleasing.

I feel sorry for all the Rachaels and other people with misspelled names. If you misspell your baby’s name to make it unique, all you are doing is sentencing that child to a lifetime of having to correct people’s spelling.

I knew I was different from every Rachel that’s out there. My mom said when I was born she pronounced my name RayChole, she said that’s how it sounds to her. I can say I’m very unique and different. I love my mom for spelling my name correctly and God for giving me life as RayChole.

I love this name! This looks much more beautiful and better than the incomplete Rachel.

My name IS Rachael. It is very annoying because people are constantly misspelling my name or telling me I spell it weird or wrong. Personally, I love my name. I thing it is different and that's definitely me.

Looks prettier than Rachel, although the name in general doesn't roll off the tongue that well.

I honestly really love this name. I feel that it is elegant and classy and not common in the slightest. It honestly looks much better and prettier than "Rachel", which looks plain and like it is missing something. I know only one Rachael, and she is a wonderful person.

Looks sort of Latin, like Caesar.

My little sister's name is Rachael and she loves her name because she happens to be named after my aunt Rachael.

I find it very irritating and offensive when people misspell my name. When I reply to email on auto text, I take the time to ensure I’ve spelt their name right..

Being a Rachael is not an easy life. When people write your name they will put "Rachel" or my personal favorite "Racheal". People don't really ask how to spell it so I always say "Rachael with an ael" and sometimes that works and sometimes they still write "Rachel". Throughout my life I have never been able to find a personalized key chain with my name on it. I personally really like my name. I was given the extra 'a' because my mom liked it. Also my brother is "Aaron" and she thought it would be cute for us to both have 2 a's in our names. How my mom found the name was from a name book from the 70's and it had "Rachel (or Rachael)". So no, I don't think this name is ugly and a stupid mess up. I think that a Rachel with an extra 'a' would still be as sweet.

Rachael is a beautiful name and spelling. It's a shame it gets criticized when there are so many other differently spelled names. Especially when people can't choose how their names get spelled when they are born. Rachael/Rachel is a very unique, old name that is not as common as so many other names. I'm proud to have it, no matter the spelling.

My name is Rachael. I think it's a good name, and I'm used to seeing it spelled with the extra 'a'. I don't find anything wrong with adding the one extra letter. My parents thought it was the 'right' way to spell it. When I write 'Rachel', it looks weird and a little boring, and like it's missing something, but that's probably only because it's not the way I spell it. I think people just don't like it because it's not how they are used to seeing it, and the other way is more common. I would never pronounce it 'Ray-chay- el', though.

I am "Rachel" and I have always been irritated by that extra "a". It looks weird, but I assume a "Rachael" would think her name looked weird without it. Always ask how it is spelled before you assume wrong and write the wrong spelling. Most of the Rachels I have known in the northeast USA are spelled without the additional "a". I wonder if "Rachael" is more common in other parts of the country.

To spell Rachel as Rachael is like Hansael and Gretael. Fathaer and Mothaer. Utterly pointless.

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Rachel is a Hebrew name. It has two syllables, one vowel sound in each syllable.
Michael has 3 syllables: Mi + Cha + El. Raphael as well: Rafa + El
I've read recently that some people believe the misspelling (Rachael) to be somehow Biblical, either Old or New Testament. It is neither. The misspelling is actually quite recent.

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My name is Jeff. Maybe I should add some extra letters to it, like "Ojaxefafla", and tell everyone it's the original, correct, Biblical way to spell it. But it's pronounced Jeff. If people believe that about Rachael, maybe it's worth a shot, no?

Maybe jaybo should spell geoff properly.

My name is Rachael and I love the spelling of it. I don't like it when people misspell is Racheal though. That to me is not a correct way of spelling Rachael. I've seen it spelt Rachell and Raychel before too. To me Rachael is more common than Rachel as I know a lot more people with the same spelling as mine. I love that I can have some many nicknames, people usually call me "Rachie" or "Rach" but I sometimes get "Rae".
I also love that my Dad is Michael and it looks similar to my name. Also people going on about the extra A, what about the name "Aelrad" the "Ael" is the start of this name.

My name is Rachael and I think it is a pretty name. The extra 'A' doesn't bother me a bit, I like it better with the second 'A' because it seems more unique. It does bother me, though, that people constantly spell my name wrong no matter how many times I tell them that it is the wrong spelling.

There is no PROPER way to spell a name, as someone has already said. So quit wining about the spelling. Personally I think this name is beautiful either way!

My name is Rachael. And I think the name both sounds and looks pretty. Though, I don't like when people spell my name without the extra "a". Yet after a while, I got used to it.

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I'd rather my name be feminine like Layla or Rosalie. But I like my name as is.

Beautiful name. It's in my top three.

I don't care how anyone else spells it, I spell it Rachael. If you spell it Raychell or Rachel, I don't really care, it doesn't make me angry at all. But reading you guys fighting over it it pretty funny:)))))

I absolutely ADORE the name Rachael! I have a very close friend named Rachael, and she's really made me love the name. I think it looks so much prettier than Rachel, even if it IS pronounced the same (hers is). I can definitely see myself naming my daughter Rachael.

Personally I love the name, either way. It's not too long and fits with most middle names.

Personally, I am extremely fond of my name. When I was younger it bothered me that people always spelt it the more common way, but now looking back on it I laugh. This way of spelling my name is original.

This spelling looks ugly, and it makes me think of the annoying "cook" Rachael Ray.

I like this spelling much better than Rachel, but someone with this name would probably always have people misspell her name, so I'd use this for a character only. Heck, I am using it for a character!

No, no, no, no, no. This isn't the worst spelling of Rachel (which happens to be my name), but it's the most annoying. It's R-A-C-H-E-L, not R-A-C-H-A-E-L. It's murdering Rachel.

I kind of like the second a being there. I have no idea why.

I've always liked the pronunciation of Rachel, but whenever I looked at the name, it seemed to be missing something. Then I came across this spelling, and was hooked on Rachael.

The 'a' irritates me and drags the name down.

The A makes it prettier, I think. A lot more elegant, even though some people might think it's pronounced differently. Kind of like Nathanael and Nathaniel, but the -ael just sounds more classic instead of like someone learning about phonics.

The name is detestable enough without the unnecessary 'a'. Every Rachael (and Racheal) I've met have had nothing but bother with their "interesting" spellings.

Gorgeous, isn't it? The spelling must come from some form of Irish. There are broad vowels (a, o and u) and slender vowels (i and e). If there is a consonant after the vowel, it must be followed by another broad/slender vowel. For example, the spelling of the word 'age' would be unacceptable. It would have to be something like 'aige' or 'agoe'.

My name is Rachael, and I love the spelling. My parents spelled it this way because my father's name is Michael, and they wanted it to look like his name. Sometimes, people mispronounce it, but it doesn't happen that often; most people know it is pronounced "Rachel". Curiously, older people tend to appreciate the spelling more than younger people.

This is my name. I like that it is spelled Rachael. I like to be unique. I like the name Rachael. It isn't one of my favorite names but I don't hate it either.

My name is Rachel and people constantly misspell it as Rachael. I've always hated this variant of the name, but I think Racheal is the worst.

My name is Rachael and I love the way it is spelled, with the extra a, it makes it more complicated, one of the characteristics of the name. But it also looks prettier that way. When I was younger, I tried spelling without the a for awhile, but I didn't like it that way, and most of my friends thought it was better with the extra a, becuase it was different and uniquie, which I am.

This is my name! ^o^ I have a teacher who pronounces it as "Rochelle" though. But then again, she calls my friend Sage "Sarah", so we think she might be senile.

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I think it's a bit plain and I don't like it a lot, but then again, my ideal name would be Noel, Lucia or something along those lines, so you never know.

We spelled our daughter R-a-c-h-a-e-l for two reasons. First - we did not want people thinking we named her for the character on Friends "Rachel Greene" (played by Jennifer Aniston) and second - her father's name is Michael. Without the a in her name, it didn't look "right" to us.

There is no proper way to spell Rachael, if you are the parents, you can choose. Some people are just to narrow minded. You can spell a name any way you want!

I like this name very much. The extra "a" at the end makes it very beautiful, and adds a bit more to it than the, in my opinion, plain "Rachel". I would never pronounce it "Ray-CHAY-el". It makes the same sound as "Israel", or "Michael" (as stated in an above comment), and that's what I'd assume. It's not THAT unusual of a spelling. As for it being too "masculine", give me a break! I've never heard a more feminine name than this lovely "Rachael".

My name is Rachel. People often misspell my name into Rachael. I honestly think it looks odd with the extra 'A', but I also am used to seeing "Rachel" every day of my life.

I don't like the way "Rachael" is spelled. The extra "A" just makes it look ridiculous compared to the proper way to spell it - "Rachel".

The second a in this name is unneccessary and should have never been put there.
I don't like the name at all, because it sounds too masculine and has a hard sound to it.

I strongly prefer this spelling over the other. I think the "ael" looks more feminine and delicate. Additionally, I like the nickname Rae; it *looks* more befitting a moniker with this spelling. IMO, it makes less visual sense with the other (more traditional?) form of this name.

My name is Rachael and I never really liked it until I was an adult. I'm ok with it now. I never liked how I sounded when I said my name.

My 3 year old daughther's name is Rachael Madison and I think it's a very beautiful name. It's a classic non-trendy name that will grow with her.

It seems the main problem with this spelling of Rachael is that people think it looks like it should be pronounced in a different way - like RAY-chay-el. To me, this argument just seems like a bias against a spelling that is not the "original" and most familiar. Otherwise, why not argue that Michael is improperly spelled because it looks as though it should be pronounced mih-chay-ul?

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The spelling Rachael was used by Charles Dickens for a character in his novel "Hard Times."

One of my best friend's name is Rachael. I think that it's a very pretty way to spell it. The extra "A" looks good.

I think that Rachael is the best name ever! It has 7 letters and is pronounced Rachel. Rachael is by far is the best name ever.

My name is spelled Rachael and I originally thought that it could be spelled either this way or Rachel. But I am very happy to think my name is quite a weird way of spelling it and I think it is pronounced right as it's spelled the same as Rachel except one extra letter.

Just wanted to add that this spelling of Rachel looks really wrong to me. It looks as if it should be pronounced "Ray-chay-al" or something. Rachel is much better, in my opinion.

It does not look like it should be pronounced that way. I think this is a beautiful spelling of Rachael, even though it's not as popular