Rafael

What Rafael means

Variant of Raphael, meaning “God cures/has healed”

variant of Raphael || From Latin Raphael, from Koine Greek Ῥᾱφᾱήλ (Rhāphāḗl), from Biblical Hebrew רָפָאֵל (Rāfāʾēl, literally “God cures/has healed”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Rafael” (revision 94542867) and “Raphael” (revision 93542533), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Rafael?

US: Rising: up from #293 in 2015. England & Wales: Rising: up from #260 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2025, when 1,639 boys got the name (#218 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 1,042 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 1,022 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 2,806 baby boys in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in DC (5.54 per 1,000 boys), RI (1.92 per 1,000 boys), CA (1.84 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Rafael is #218 in the US and #189 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Rafael were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

Other spellings

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Raphael807 US · 368 E&W
• Raffaele20 US · 20 E&W
• Refael24 US
• Raffael9 US · 6 E&W
• Rufael5 US · 5 E&W
• Refoel6 US · 3 E&W
• Rafal0 US · 6 E&W
• Ravel0 US · 3 E&W

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Rafael

Boys

• Ismael#263Form of Ishmael, meaning “God hears, God will hear”^*
• Colter#157Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #157 vs #1,466 in 2025
• Sonny#298Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #822 in 2015, #298 in 2025
• Arthur#87possibly “bear”^*
• Stetson#136“site in the Parish of South Brent”^*
• Baker#217From a surname for “a baker, or owner of a communal oven”^*

For a sister

• Celeste#188“heavenly”^*
• Hallie#120Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #565 in 2015, #120 in 2025
• Stevie#203Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #978 in 2015, #203 in 2025
• Daisy#75From the word “daisy”^*
• Alora#195“my dream”^*
• Miriam#246possibly “bitter”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under where there are enough, topped up with common names whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Rafael’s. Place names are only included if they are in the top 300. Rank is US 2025.