Rachel is a Hebrew name meaning "a ewe." In Hebrew, it is pronounced something like /RAW khale/. Lots of people like to spell it Rachael, giving it that fancy-schmancy extra "a" like in Michael. The problem with this is, in Hebrew, Michael is pronounced more like /mee kha el/. The final "ael" means "of God." (as in Azrael, Gabriel, Ariel etc.) So, when you spell Rachel like Rachael, you technically should pronounce it /raw kha el/, and its meaning would be, "sheep of God." Hmmm.See Also: Rachel