Rafael

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Rafayel in FR France, PL Poland, Raphael in IN India, Rafail in SE Sweden and Ραφαηλ in CY Cyprus.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 6 languages in the etymology graph.

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◐

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

• English given name2.4M records spelled Rafael129 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Brazil, United States, Venezuela, France

  Languages: English, German, French

  Also written Raphael, Rafaël, Raffael, Raphaël, Raffaël

• a separate given name180K records spelled Rafael8 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Ecuador, Spain, United Kingdom

  Also written Rafaël, Rafaél, Rafae͏̈l, Rafaėl, Răfael

• Finnish given name53K records spelled Rafael14 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Finland, United States, Spain, Estonia

  Languages: Finnish, Estonian

  Also written Raphael, Raffael, Raphaël, Räphäęl, Rafaël

• French given name49K records spelled Rafael200 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, Russia, Kazakhstan, United States

  Languages: French, Russian, Polish

  Also written Raphael, Raphaël, Рафаэль, Рафаил, Рафаиль

• Indonesian given name21K records spelled Rafael8 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Indonesia, Philippines, United States, Spain

  Languages: Indonesian, Malay

  Also written 'Rafael, Rafaël, Řãfåęľ, Rafãel, Rafael'

• Uzbek given name11K records spelled Rafael19 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Russia, Kazakhstan, United States, Spain

  Languages: Uzbek, Turkish, Kazakh

  Also written Рафаэль, Рафаель, Рафаэл, Raphael, Raphaël

82 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●

Rafael is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In English, A male given name, variant of Raphael.

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

• In Portuguese, Raphael (an archangel)

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

• In Spanish, Raphael

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

• Deus cura; God cures

  as a name·Dicionario Sefaradi De SobrenomesDictionary Of Sephardic Surnames Inclusive Cristaos-Novos, Conversos, Marranos, Italianos,…

• In Swedish, Rafael är ett bibliskt namn av hebreiskt ursprung med betydelsen ’Gud har helat’. Rafael är en av de tre namngivna ärkeänglarna i Bibeln och spelar en stor roll i Tobits bok i Apokryferna. En känd nutida namnbärare är den spanske tennisspelaren Rafael Nadal (f. 1986). I den rikssvenska almanackan 24 mars och i den finlandssvenska 22 december.

  as a name·Förnamn i Sverige. Kortfattat namnlexikon

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) — 145 years between 1880–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Carlos I of Portugalb. 1863PTnot in their usual nameKing of Portugal from 1889 to 1908 (1863–1908)
• Manuel II of Portugalb. 1889PTnot in their usual nameKing of Portugal (1889–1932)
• Rafael Leónidas Trujillob. 1891DOPresident of the Dominican Republic (1891-1961)
• Rafael Benítezb. 1960ESSpanish association football manager and former player
• Rafael Correab. 1963ECPresident of Ecuador (2007 - 2017) y Prófugo de la Justicia
• Ted Cruzb. 1970CAnot in their usual nameAmerican politician (born 1970)
• Joaquin Phoenixb. 1974USnot in their usual nameAmerican actor
• Rafael Márquezb. 1979MXMexican association football player
• Rafael van der Vaartb. 1983NLDutch association football player (born 1983)
• Rafael Nadalb. 1986ESSpanish tennis player (born 1986)

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 · 1,522 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Rafael?

We estimate roughly 1.5 million people bear Rafael (counting its spellings and scripts) across 12 countries in our records.

In which country does Rafael have the most bearers?

Rafael is most frequently recorded in Venezuela, where it is most often spelled rafael.

How common is Rafael compared with other names?

In Venezuela, Rafael is the 10th most common given name of 213,120 given names recorded there.

Is Rafael a male or female name?

Rafael 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 Rafael mean?

Recorded meaning: Biblical; Spanish form of Raphael, name of one of the archangels.