Rafelita
A diminutive feminine name derived from Rafael, meaning "God heals" or "God's medicine".
Name Census estimates that about 3 living Americans carry the first name Rafelita. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Rafelita today is around 98 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rafelita births was 1930 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rafelita. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Rafelita is about 98 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Rafelitas were born before 1938.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Rafelita. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
3
~ 1 in 114,251,446 Americans
Peak year
1930
7 babies that year
Average age
98
years old
1947 SSA rank
#5,937
Tracked since 1915
Popularity
Rafelita: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rafelita from the 1910s through to the 1940s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 27 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Rafelita 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 Rafelita during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Rafelitas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Rafelita
The name Rafelita is a Spanish feminine given name, derived from the Hebrew masculine name Rafael. The name Rafael has its origins in Biblical times, with the earliest known reference dating back to the Book of Tobit, an apocryphal text from the 3rd or 4th century BCE. Rafael is a compound name, formed from the Hebrew words "רָפָא" (rafa), meaning "to heal," and "אֵל" (el), meaning "God." Thus, the name Rafael translates to "God has healed" or "God heals."
The Spanish feminine form, Rafelita, emerged as a diminutive variant of Rafael, likely during the spread of Christianity in the Iberian Peninsula in the early centuries of the Common Era. The addition of the suffix "-ita" is a common practice in Spanish to create diminutive or affectionate forms of names.
While the name Rafelita may not have been widely recorded in ancient texts or historical records, it has been borne by several notable individuals throughout history. One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Rafelita Frisoni (1592-1618), an Italian painter and engraver from Bologna, renowned for her religious artwork and portraiture.
In the 19th century, Rafelita Mendoza (1836-1891) was a Cuban-American writer and translator, best known for her translations of literary works from Spanish to English. She played a significant role in introducing Spanish literature to English-speaking audiences.
Another notable bearer of the name was Rafelita Alonzo (1856-1942), a Mexican educator and women's rights activist. She was a pioneer in promoting education for women and advocating for gender equality in Mexico during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
In the 20th century, Rafelita Bowen (1908-1992) was a notable American painter and printmaker, known for her vibrant landscapes and depictions of African American life. Her works are represented in numerous museum collections, including the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
More recently, Rafelita Gaztambide (1930-2011) was a Puerto Rican singer and actress, widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in Puerto Rican popular music. She was celebrated for her contributions to the development of the bolero and plena genres, and her performances spanned several decades.
People
Rafelita + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rafelita 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
Rafelita: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rafelita?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rafelita 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 114,251,446 US residents.
Is Rafelita a common name?
We classify Rafelita as "Very Rare". It ranks above 4.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 44 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rafelita most popular?
The single biggest year for Rafelita was 1930, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rafelita is about 98 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 Rafelita in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rafelita a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rafelita in the SSA data are female. 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 Rafelita still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rafelita 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 Rafelita 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 share the name Rafelita?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.