Rafee
A masculine Arabic name meaning "elevated" or "exalted".
Name Census estimates that about 5 living Americans carry the first name Rafee. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Rafee today is around 33 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rafee births was 1992 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rafee. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Rafee with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Rafee. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
5
~ 1 in 68,550,868 Americans
Peak year
1992
5 babies that year
Average age
33
years old
1992 SSA rank
#9,478
Tracked since 1992
Popularity
Rafee: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Rafee by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Rafee during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Rafee
The name Rafee has its origins in Arabic, where it is a variant spelling of the name Rafi. It is derived from the root word "rafa'a," which means "to raise" or "to uplift." The name is believed to have emerged during the early Islamic era, around the 7th or 8th century AD, in the Arabian Peninsula.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Rafee can be found in ancient Arabic poetry and literature. It is mentioned in several works by renowned poets and scholars from the medieval Islamic world, such as Al-Mutanabbi (915-965 AD) and Al-Jahiz (776-868 AD).
Throughout history, the name Rafee has been borne by several notable figures. One of the most famous was Rafee al-Din al-Khazraji (1142-1228 AD), a renowned Islamic scholar and philosopher from modern-day Iran. He was renowned for his contributions to the fields of theology, logic, and metaphysics.
Another prominent individual with this name was Rafee al-Din al-Tusi (1201-1274 AD), a Persian polymath who made significant contributions to various fields, including mathematics, astronomy, and philosophy. He is particularly known for his work on the development of trigonometry and his contributions to the observatory in Maragheh.
In the realm of literature, Rafee al-Din al-Irbili (1216-1286 AD) was a prominent Kurdish poet and scholar from the 13th century. His poetry and writings played a significant role in the development of Kurdish literature and culture during that time.
Moving forward in history, Rafee al-Din Shafi (1539-1597 AD) was a prominent Ottoman calligrapher and poet from the 16th century. His calligraphic works are widely admired and have been preserved in various museums and collections around the world.
Another notable figure with the name Rafee was Rafee al-Din al-Basri (1635-1716 AD), an influential Sufi scholar and mystic from Basra, Iraq. He was known for his teachings on spiritual enlightenment and his contributions to the Naqshbandi Sufi order.
People
Rafee + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rafee as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with R
Other first names starting with R with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Rafee: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rafee?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rafee going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 68,550,868 US residents.
Is Rafee a common name?
We classify Rafee as "Very Rare". It ranks above 18.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rafee most popular?
The single biggest year for Rafee was 1992, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rafee is about 33 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Rafee in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rafee a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rafee in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Rafee still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rafee in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Rafee can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people have Rafee as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Rafee on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.