Raphael

What Raphael means

Means “God cures/has healed”

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

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

How popular is Raphael?

US: Rising: up from #535 in 2015. England & Wales: Rising: up from #233 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2025, when 807 boys got the name (#394 that year). First in the US records in 1882.

How common

• About 1 in 2,117 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 739 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 2,182 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 (2.77 per 1,000 boys), RI (1.6 per 1,000 boys), NY (1.07 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

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

US vs UK

Raphael is #394 in the US and #142 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 Raphael 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

• Rafael1,639 US · 266 E&W
• Raffael9 US · 6 E&W
• Rephael6 US

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 Raphael

Boys

• Elliott#160“my God is Yahweh”^*
• Elliot#151Variant of Elliott, meaning “my God is Yahweh”^*
• Jethro#952Editor’s note Up from #1,481 in 2015 to #952 in 2025 in the US
• Adriel#84“flock of God”^*
• Amos#730“to carry; a burden”^*
• Ira#819“watchful”^*

For a sister

• Esther#119“star”^*
• Ariella#174Form of Ariel, meaning “lion of God”^*
• Elsie#123Diminutive of Alison, meaning “of noble kind”^*
• Ruth#173Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1920, with 26,102 babies; 1,781 in 2025
• Lena#279“the Large River”^*
• Davina#749Feminine form of David, meaning “beloved”^*

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