Rafe

What Rafe means

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

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

Source: Wiktionary, “Rafe” (revision 83833945) and “Raphael” (revision 93542533), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Rafe?

US: Rising: up from #1804 in 2015. England & Wales: Rising: up from #281 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2025, when 179 boys got the name (#1165 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 9,542 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 1,066 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 1,637 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 UT (0.61 per 1,000 boys), LA (0.42 per 1,000 boys), MO (0.29 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

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

US vs UK

Rafe is #1165 in the US and #201 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 Rafe were boys.

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

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Raife52 US · 85 E&W
• Raif16 US · 9 E&W
• Raef13 US · 11 E&W
• Raff0 US · 5 E&W
• Raf5 US
• Raefe0 US · 4 E&W
• Rayfe0 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 Rafe

Boys

• Bruno#740“brown”^*
• Axel#79Editor’s note Up from #123 in 2015 to #79 in 2025 in the US. About 1 in 410 US boys in the 2025 records
• Kai#93“warrior”^*
• Milo#119Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #288 in 2015, #119 in 2025
• Hugo#377“thought, mind, spirit”^*
• Oliver#3Editor’s note Up from #19 in 2015 to #3 in 2025 in the US. About 1 in 110 US boys in the 2025 records

For a sister

• Lorelai#333Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #333 vs #807 in 2025
• Lorelei#441“murmuring rock or lurking rock”^*
• Evelyn#8Same root as Eileen, possibly meaning “radiance, beauty”^*
• Amelia#4“vigor, bravery”^*
• Evelina#778Editor’s note Up from #1,354 in 2015 to #778 in 2025 in the US
• Adeline#59Form of Adela, meaning “noble”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Germanic, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Rafe’s. Rank is US 2025.