Rafael Boy
How popular is Rafael?
#218 boy name in 2025
1,639 baby boys were named Rafael in the US in 2025, making it the 218th most popular boy name.
Rafael popularity over time
Boys Girls
| Rank in 2025 | #218 for boys (▲ 4 from 2024) |
|---|---|
| Babies in 2025 | 1,639 boys |
| 10-year trend | Rising (+34% babies vs 2015) |
| Earlier ranks | #293 in 2015, #246 in 2020 |
| Peak year | 2006 (1,702 boys) |
| Highest rank | #195 in 1985 |
| First recorded | 1880 |
| Boys vs girls (last 10 years) | 100% boys, 0% girls |
| Chance a classmate shares it | 1% in a class of 25 kids born in 2025 |
Rafael counting every spelling
Social Security counts each spelling as its own name. Adding together the spellings that sound alike, the Rafael family of names ranked #163 for boys in 2025 (#166 the year before), with 2,475 babies in all.
Spellings are grouped by how they sound, using our own rules, so a few groupings may not match how your family says the name.
Where Rafael is most popular
Babies named Rafael per 1,000 boys born in each state, 2021 to 2025. Darker means more common.
- District of Columbia: 3.0 per 1,000 (45 boys)
- New Mexico: 1.8 per 1,000 (59 boys)
- California: 1.7 per 1,000 (1,557 boys)
- Texas: 1.7 per 1,000 (1,487 boys)
- Arizona: 1.6 per 1,000 (265 boys)
Rafael by decade
| Decade | Baby boys | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 65 | #595 |
| 1890s | 84 | #615 |
| 1900s | 172 | #452 |
| 1910s | 608 | #524 |
| 1920s | 1,701 | #403 |
| 1930s | 1,402 | #392 |
| 1940s | 1,833 | #415 |
| 1950s | 3,954 | #342 |
| 1960s | 6,285 | #255 |
| 1970s | 9,592 | #215 |
| 1980s | 12,274 | #195 |
| 1990s | 14,370 | #201 |
| 2000s | 15,037 | #217 |
| 2010s | 12,794 | #257 |
| 2020s | 9,208 | #218 |
Boy names about as popular as Rafael
Questions
- Is Rafael a boy or girl name?
- Rafael is mostly a boy name. Over the last 10 years, 100% of babies named Rafael were boys.
- How popular is the name Rafael?
- 1,639 baby boys were named Rafael in the US in 2025, making it the 218th most popular boy name.
- When was Rafael most popular?
- Rafael peaked in 2006, when 1,702 boys were given the name. Its highest rank was #195 in 1985.
- How many people are named Rafael?
- 89,947 babies have been named Rafael in the US since 1880. We estimate about 80,635 of them are alive in 2026, with a median age of 29.
- Where is Rafael most popular?
- From 2021 to 2025, Rafael was most common in District of Columbia, at 3.0 of every 1,000 boys born there.
Source: Social Security Administration baby name data, 1880 to 2025 (names given to at least 5 babies of a sex in a year). Living-people and median-age figures are our estimates using US life tables. How we calculate.