Rael

Meaning & origin●

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Rael is also recorded as 6 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• English given name46K records spelled Rael17 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Brazil, United States, Philippines, Australia

  Languages: English, German, Western Frisian

  Also written Raël, Ra-El, Raèl, Rae'L, Rae’L

• Swahili given name36K records spelled Rael6 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Kenya, Philippines, United States, South Africa

  Languages: Swahili, Southern Sotho

  Also written Raèl, Ràel, Raël, Raél

• a separate given name1.3K records spelled Rael3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Ethiopia, United Kingdom

  Also written Raél, Raël

• Hindi given name407 records spelled Rael3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in India, United States, Kenya, South Africa

  Languages: Hindi, Urdu

  Also written Raèl

• Indonesian given name391 records spelled Rael2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Indonesia, Philippines, Kenya, United States

  Also written Raèl

• Arabic given name325 records spelled Rael2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Kenya, Philippines, United States, Saudi Arabia

  Also written Ra-El

48 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Rael is also recorded in 2 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In Cebuano, a diminutive of the male given name Israel

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In pau, path, road, way, canal

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 38 years between 1971–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Rael Vardjab. 1947EEEstonian biologist (born 1947)
• Rael Dornfestb. 1950USAmerican computer programmer
• Rael Levittb. 1971ZASouth African auctioneer
• Rael Toffolob. 1976BRBrazilian composer
• Rael Artelb. 1980EEEstonian curator and museum director (born 1980)
• Lia Clarkb. 1992BRnot in their usual nameBrazilian singer and drag queen
• LionHeartGBnot in their usual namepoet, writer and performer

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 207 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Rael?

We estimate roughly 13 thousand people bear Rael (counting its spellings and scripts) across 10 countries in our records.

In which country does Rael have the most bearers?

We estimate about 12 thousand people bear Rael in Brazil, more than in any other country in our records, where it is most often spelled rael.

Where is Rael most common?

Rael is densest in Brazil, where the national register counts about 1 in 17 thousand people carrying it.

Is Rael a male or female name?

Rael is a male name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Rael mean?

Recorded meaning: Clipping of Israel.