Rafhael
The name Rafhael is of Hebrew origin and means "God has healed."
Name Census estimates that about 5 living Americans carry the first name Rafhael. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Rafhael today is around 47 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rafhael births was 1976 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rafhael. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Rafhael. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
5
~ 1 in 68,550,868 Americans
Peak year
1976
5 babies that year
Average age
47
years old
1976 SSA rank
#6,267
Tracked since 1976
Popularity
Rafhael: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Rafhael 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 Rafhael during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Rafhael
The name Rafhael is believed to have its origins in the Hebrew language, derived from the biblical name Raphael, which means "God has healed" or "God's healing." This name finds its roots in the ancient Judeo-Christian traditions and is associated with the archangel Raphael, who is one of the seven archangels mentioned in the Book of Tobit, a deuterocanonical book in the Catholic and Orthodox Christian traditions.
The earliest recorded usage of the name Raphael can be traced back to the Book of Tobit, which is believed to have been written between the 6th and 2nd centuries BCE. In this text, Raphael is depicted as a guide and protector, accompanying the young Tobiah on a journey and helping him overcome various challenges.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Raphael or its variants. One of the most renowned bearers of this name is the Italian Renaissance artist Raffaello Sanzio, better known as Raphael (1483-1520), who was a celebrated painter and architect during the High Renaissance period in Italy.
Another famous Raphael was the Spanish painter Raphael Sanzio (1595-1652), who was a prominent figure in the Baroque era and is known for his religious artworks. In literature, Raphael is the name of one of the archangels in John Milton's epic poem "Paradise Lost," published in 1667.
In the field of science, Raphael Meldola (1849-1915) was a British chemist and educator who made significant contributions to the study of organic chemistry and the development of synthetic dyes. Raphael Holinshed (c. 1525-1580) was an English chronicler and historian best known for his work "Holinshed's Chronicles," which served as a source for many of William Shakespeare's plays.
It is worth noting that while the name Rafhael may be a variant spelling of the more common Raphael, it is not widely documented or recorded in historical records, suggesting that its usage may be relatively rare or modern in origin.
People
Rafhael + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rafhael 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
Rafhael: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rafhael?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rafhael 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 Rafhael a common name?
We classify Rafhael 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 Rafhael most popular?
The single biggest year for Rafhael was 1976, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rafhael is about 47 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 Rafhael in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rafhael a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rafhael 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 Rafhael still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rafhael 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 Rafhael 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 Americans are named Rafhael?
Want to know how many Americans are named Rafhael? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.