Find out how popular the last name Rafael is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Rafael.

Rafael, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Rafael surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Rafael in America

Rafael is the 9006th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Rafael surname appeared 3,631 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Rafael.

We can also compare 2010 data for Rafael to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Rafael

The surname Rafael is of Spanish origin, derived from the Hebrew personal name "Raphael," which means "God has healed" or "God's healer." The name gained popularity in Spain during the Middle Ages, particularly after the reconquest of Iberia from the Moors.

The earliest recorded instances of the surname Rafael can be traced back to the 13th century in various regions of Spain, such as Catalonia, Aragon, and Castile. It is believed that the surname was originally adopted by individuals who were either descendants of someone named Raphael or lived in an area associated with the name.

In the 14th century, the name Rafael appeared in several historical documents, including the Llibre del Repartiment, which recorded the distribution of land and property in the newly conquered territories of Valencia. One notable figure from this period was Rafael Valls, a Catalan poet and writer who lived between 1350 and 1420.

During the 15th and 16th centuries, the surname Rafael spread across Spain and its colonies in the Americas. Several prominent individuals bore this surname, including Rafael Altamira (1866-1951), a renowned Spanish historian, jurist, and philosopher, and Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro (1846-1905), a Portuguese ceramist and caricaturist.

In the 17th century, the name Rafael gained further recognition with the birth of Rafael de Sanzio (1483-1520), the Italian Renaissance artist widely known as Raphael. His works, including masterpieces like The School of Athens and the Sistine Madonna, have had a lasting impact on the art world.

Other notable individuals with the surname Rafael include Rafael Sabatini (1875-1950), an Italian-British novelist known for his swashbuckling adventure stories like Captain Blood and Scaramouche, and Rafael Nadal (born 1986), the Spanish professional tennis player and one of the greatest players in the history of the sport.

Throughout its history, the surname Rafael has maintained its strong ties to its Spanish and Hebrew roots, reflecting the rich cultural heritage of the regions where it originated and flourished.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Rafael

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Rafael.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Rafael was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Rafael has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Rafael was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Rafael, please contact us.

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