Rapheal
A masculine given name derived from the Hebrew meaning "God has healed".
Name Census estimates that about 1,316 living Americans carry the first name Rapheal. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Rapheal today is around 38 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rapheal births was 1990 (81 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rapheal. 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 Rapheal with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.3K
~ 1 in 260,452 Americans
Peak year
1990
81 babies that year
Average age
38
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,644
Tracked since 1914
Census
Rapheal in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,144 people with the first name Rapheal, which placed it at #11,297 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#11,297
National first-name rank
People counted
1.1K
1,144 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
62.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rapheal
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rapheal is Black at 62.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (22.6%) and White (9.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Rapheal described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Rapheal at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American62.8% · 718
- Hispanic or Latino22.6% · 259
- White9.1% · 104
- Two or more races2.7% · 31
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.8% · 21
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 11
Popularity
Rapheal: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rapheal from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 403 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Rapheal 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 Rapheal during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Rapheals live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. Michigan, Illinois, Georgia recorded the most babies named Rapheal, while South Carolina, Louisiana, Missouri recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 18 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Rapheal
The name Rapheal has its origins in the Hebrew language and culture, tracing back to ancient times. It is derived from the Hebrew name "Rafa'el," which means "God heals" or "God has healed." The name is composed of two Hebrew words: "Rafa," meaning "to heal," and "El," which is a reference to God.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Rapheal can be found in the Book of Tobit, an ancient Jewish text from the Apocrypha. In this book, Raphael is depicted as an archangel who helps guide and heal the central character, Tobias. This association with an angelic figure has contributed to the name's enduring popularity among various religious traditions.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Rapheal or its variations. One of the most famous is Raphael Sanzio (1483-1520), the Italian Renaissance artist renowned for his masterpieces such as "The School of Athens" and "The Sistine Madonna." His works have left an indelible mark on the art world and continue to inspire artists to this day.
Another notable figure is Raphael Holinshed (c. 1525-1580), an English chronicler best known for his comprehensive work, "The Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland." This work served as a significant source of inspiration for many of William Shakespeare's plays, including "Macbeth" and "King Lear."
In the realm of science, Raphael Meldola (1849-1915) was a British chemist and educator who made significant contributions to the field of organic chemistry. His research on azo dyes and his work in promoting science education left a lasting impact.
In the realm of literature, Raphael Sabatini (1875-1950) was an Italian-British writer best known for his historical adventure novels, such as "Scaramouche" and "Captain Blood." His swashbuckling tales captured the imagination of readers worldwide and inspired numerous adaptations in film and television.
Lastly, Raphael Lemkin (1900-1959) was a Polish lawyer and linguist who coined the term "genocide" and played a pivotal role in the adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. His tireless efforts to raise awareness about mass atrocities and promote human rights have left an enduring legacy.
People
Rapheal + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rapheal 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
Rapheal: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rapheal?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,316 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rapheal 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 260,452 US residents.
Is Rapheal a common name?
We classify Rapheal as "Rare". It ranks above 91.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,543 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rapheal most popular?
The single biggest year for Rapheal was 1990, when 81 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rapheal is about 38 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rapheal in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,144 people with the name Rapheal, or 0.38 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,297 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Rapheal in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Rapheal?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rapheal leans strongly male. 1,123 people counted with this name were male (98.2%), compared with 21 female bearers (1.8%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Rapheal?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rapheal is Black at 62.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (22.6%) and White (9.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Rapheal most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Rapheal in the 2020 Census, accounting for 62.8% (718 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
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 Rapheal in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rapheal a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rapheal 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 Rapheal still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rapheal 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 Rapheal 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.
How many people have the name Rapheal?
See how many Americans are named Rapheal on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.