Rafferty
A masculine name of Irish origin meaning "skilled traveller".
Name Census estimates that about 266 living Americans carry the first name Rafferty. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Rafferty today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rafferty births was 2024 (19 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rafferty. 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.
People living today
266
~ 1 in 1,288,550 Americans
Peak year
2024
19 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,182
Tracked since 1987
Popularity
Rafferty: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rafferty from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 98 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Rafferty 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 Rafferty during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Raffertys live
Origin
Meaning and history of Rafferty
The name Rafferty is an anglicized version of the Irish Gaelic surname Ó Raifeartaigh, which means "descendant of Raifeartach". Raifeartach is an ancient Irish personal name derived from the Old Norse name Rögnvaldr, meaning "powerful ruler". The name originated in Ireland during the Middle Ages, around the 10th or 11th century.
Rafferty was first used as a given name by Irish families who had adopted it as a surname. It gained popularity among English-speaking populations in Ireland and later spread to other parts of the British Isles and beyond. The earliest recorded bearer of the name Rafferty was Rafferty O'Rafferty, an Irish nobleman who lived in the 12th century.
One of the most notable historical figures with the name Rafferty was Sir Thomas Rafferty (1788-1853), an Irish-born British army officer who served in the Napoleonic Wars. He was awarded the prestigious Order of the Bath for his military service.
In the 19th century, Rafferty was a relatively common given name among Irish immigrants to the United States. One notable American with the name was Rafferty Donovan (1836-1914), a prominent businessman and philanthropist in New York City.
In the world of literature, the name Rafferty appears in several works by Irish writers. For example, Rafferty's Choice, a novel by Irish author Brian Friel (1929-2015), features a character named Rafferty.
Another noteworthy bearer of the name was Rafferty Alamao (1912-1985), a Hawaiian musician and composer who helped popularize traditional Hawaiian music in the mid-20th century.
While not as commonly used as a given name today, Rafferty has left a lasting impact on naming traditions, particularly in Ireland and among the Irish diaspora. Its historical roots and associations with Irish culture and heritage have contributed to its enduring significance.
People
Rafferty + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rafferty 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
Rafferty: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rafferty?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 266 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rafferty 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 1,288,550 US residents.
Is Rafferty a common name?
We classify Rafferty as "Very Rare". It ranks above 77.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 269 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rafferty most popular?
The single biggest year for Rafferty was 2024, when 19 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rafferty is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Rafferty a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rafferty 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.
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.