Rafaela

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Raffaella in IT Italy, AT Austria, GB United Kingdom and 6 more, Rafaella in CL Chile, EC Ecuador, PE Peru and 3 more and Ραφαελα 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●

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◐

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

• Spanish given name529K records spelled Rafaela8 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Spain, Mexico, Argentina, Venezuela

  Also written Räfäëlä, Rafaelä, Rafaëla, Rafaéla, Ráfaelá

• English given name398K records spelled Rafaela20 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Brazil, United States, Venezuela, Ecuador

  Languages: English, German, Dutch

  Also written Rafaëla, Rafaéla, Ráfaelá, Râfaelâ

• a separate given name8.2K records spelled Rafaela2 spellings in the group

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

  Also written Rafaéla

• Croatian given name4.5K records spelled Rafaela27 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Croatia, Russia, United States, Ukraine

  Languages: Croatian, Russian, Ukrainian

  Also written Рафаэла, Rafaella, Рафаела, Рафаіла, Рафаїла

• Finnish given name2.0K records spelled Rafaela4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Finland, Slovenia, Hungary, United States

  Languages: Finnish, Hungarian, Estonian

  Also written Rafaéla

• Indonesian given name1.5K records spelled Rafaela2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Indonesia, Philippines, United States, Spain

  Also written Rafaëla

45 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●

Rafaela is also recorded in 3 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In Portuguese, a female given name, masculine equivalent Rafael

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

• Dios sana

  as a name·25,000 nombres de bebé. La mejor guía para escoger el nombre adecuado

• In German, a female given name, variant of Raphaela

  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) — 134 years between 1887–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Queen Maria Isabel of Spainb. 1797ESnot in their usual nameQueen consort of Spain (1797-1818)
• Maria II of Portugalb. 1819BRnot in their usual nameQueen of Portugal (r. 1826–1828; 1834–1853)
• Princess Francisca of Brazilb. 1824BRnot in their usual namePrincess of Brazil (1824-1898)
• Infanta Maria Ana of Portugalb. 1843PTnot in their usual namePortuguese and Saxon Royal
• Infanta Antónia of Portugalb. 1845PTnot in their usual namePortuguese Royal
• Infanta Maria Theresa of Portugalb. 1855ATnot in their usual nameAustrian and Portuguese royal (1855–1944)
• Mercedes of Orléansb. 1860ESnot in their usual nameQueen consort of Spain
• Infanta Marie Anne of Portugalb. 1861NLnot in their usual nameGrand Duchess consort and regent of Luxembourg (1861-1942)
• Infanta Maria Antonia of Portugalb. 1862PTnot in their usual nameTitular Duchess of Parma (1862–1959)
• Rafaela Silvab. 1992BRBrazilian judoka

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 · 884 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Rafaela?

We estimate roughly 361 thousand people bear Rafaela (counting its spellings and scripts) across 12 countries in our records.

In which country does Rafaela have the most bearers?

We estimate about 318 thousand people bear Rafaela in Brazil, more than in any other country in our records, where it is most often spelled rafaela.

Where is Rafaela most common?

Rafaela is densest in Brazil, where the national register counts about 1 in 667 people carrying it.

How common is Rafaela compared with other names?

In Brazil, Rafaela is the 127th most common given name of 536,280 given names recorded there.

Is Rafaela a male or female name?

Rafaela is a female 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 Rafaela mean?

Recorded meaning: a female given name, masculine equivalent Rafael, equivalent to English Raphaela