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Raffael

#8,757 in 2025Boys' name

Variant of Raphael

Raffael has been given to 120 babies in the U.S. since 1980. In 2025 it ranked #8,757 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2024, with 13 recorded.

Babies named Raffael, 2025

1 in 368,000

Raffael over time, 1880–2025

Boys
05101518801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Raffael: meaning, origin, and history

Variant of Raphael

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Raffael means

Raffael is a variant of Raphael.

Meaning behind the documented name family

The name developed through Raffael → Raphael. The family’s meaning is “God cures/has healed”, recorded in English with the source elements Rāfāʾēl.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Raphael.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 120 boys were recorded with the name Raffael between 1980 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 13 in 2024; its best national rank was #4,837 in 1980.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #11,664 in 2020 to #8,757 in 2025.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Raffael?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 368,000
9 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 190,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#8,757
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
255,323 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Raffael sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 255,323 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Raffael. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Raffaels were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Raffael was born before 2019 — so the typical Raffael is around 6 today.

Median birth year
2019
About 6 years old
Biggest decade
2020s
48.3% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
77.5%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
120
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2020s — 48.3% of all recorded uses (58).

Is Raffael rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
−2,032
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
+2,907
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
—
Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago
—
Not published both years
Share of its own peak
69.2%
Peak was 2024 (13)
Years since peak
1
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
24.1% average annual change
Best rank ever
#4,837
1980

Spellings of Raffael

Raffael is not the most common spelling — Rafael is, with 77.2% against Raffael's 0.10%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Raffael around the world

Where Raffael ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    2007–2025
    #3,256
    in 2025
  • France
    1927–2025
    #2,763
    in 2025
  • Canada
    1999–2023
    #3,103
    in 2023
  • South Australia
    1977–2013
    #754
    in 2013

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Raffael by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#8,757
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 2,907
Best rank ever
#4,837
1980
Peak year
2024
13 that year
First recorded
1980
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
120
Count in 2025
9

Names similar to Raffael

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

RafhaelRafsanRafanRaffertyRephaelYetzaelYonaelJazaelEsmaelRafielRafordRafaRafayNatnaelYsmaelMishaelTyraelMcihaelMissaelNichaelKhaelRafelIsrraelYsrael

Sibling names for Raffael

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Raffael

Top names of 2024, Raffael's peak yearThe 2020s in fullOther names that peaked in 1980Boys' names starting with R