Meaning not yet researched.
Rafael: US boys given the name each year, 1880 to 2025, from Social Security card applications. 1,639 in 2025. Its best rank was #195 in 1985.
US births per year · SSA card applications
Peaked at #195 in 1985; #218 in 2025. Every baby recorded as Rafael in 2025 was a boy.
Baby name · US data 1880–2025
#218 for US boys in 2025. Its best year was 1985, at #195.
Hover, tap or use the arrow keys for any year. Years with fewer than five babies of a sex are not published by SSA and show as zero.
Rafael: US boys given the name each year from 1880 to 2025. 1,639 boys in 2025. Peak: #195 in 1985 · most boys in one year: 1,702 (2006).
In 2025, 1,639 US boys were named Rafael, making it the 218th most common boys’ name of the year, up 4 places from #222 in 2024. That is 18 more than the 1,621 boys named Rafael in 2024. Its best rank for boys was #195, reached in 1985. The most boys given the name in a single year was 1,702, in 2006. For comparison, it was #294 in 2015 and #389 in 1950.
Social Security card records list Rafael in 145 years of the 146 from 1880 to 2025, starting in 1880 with 7 babies. In all, 89,947 US babies have been given the name, 0.6% of them girls and 99% boys. Its busiest decade was the 2000s, with 15,093 babies named Rafael.
Over the 10 years from 2016 to 2025, 14,525 US boys were named Rafael; the busiest of those years was 2025, with 1,639. In 2025 that was about 1 in 1,042 of the boys in SSA’s list for the year.
Among the states, Rafael ranked highest in District of Columbia in 2025, at #58 for boys there. It was in the top 100 in 1 state (counting DC). Related spellings in the SSA files include Raphael (24,581 babies since 1880) and Rapheal (1,542 babies since 1880). Rarer spellings such as Raffaele, Rafeal and Rafal are summarised on this page.
Meaning not yet researched.
We publish a meaning only with a cited source and a confidence label, and never generate one. Meanings are being researched for the most common names first.
Rare spellings summarised here: Raffaele (1,079), Rafeal (925), Rafal (194), Raphel (168), Rafel (125), Raffael (120), Rafiel (91), Rafuel (21), Raffeal (15), Raffaello (10), Rafhael (5), Raffiel (5).
Numbers are all-time US births. Links come from Wikidata’s “said to be the same as” (P460, CC0) and our spelling rule: at most two letters different, with the same sound pattern.
No nicknames listed for Rafael in the open dataset we use.
Source: carltonnorthern/nicknames (Apache-2.0).
US boys. Rank within each state. SSA leaves out states where fewer than five boys got the name, so 15 are not listed.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank 2025 | Rank 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|
| District of Columbia | 14 | #58 | #182 |
| California | 323 | #127 | #193 |
| Texas | 295 | #133 | #194 |
| New York | 119 | #161 | #242 |
| Massachusetts | 42 | #162 | #265 |
| Arizona | 55 | #164 | #246 |
| Florida | 124 | #180 | #197 |
| Colorado | 38 | #184 | #297 |
| Connecticut | 19 | #184 | #255 |
| New Jersey | 51 | #194 | #302 |
| Rhode Island | 6 | #198 | #186 |
| Illinois | 57 | #208 | #231 |
| Washington | 38 | #211 | #286 |
| Nebraska | 11 | #239 | #492 |
| Oregon | 18 | #243 | #354 |
| Utah | 22 | #246 | #497 |
| Virginia | 35 | #249 | #408 |
| Nevada | 12 | #262 | #326 |
| New Mexico | 8 | #262 | #308 |
| North Carolina | 47 | #266 | #502 |
| Arkansas | 12 | #298 | — |
| Maryland | 18 | #315 | #295 |
| Oklahoma | 15 | #322 | #436 |
| Georgia | 37 | #335 | #375 |
| South Carolina | 16 | #340 | #470 |
| Wisconsin | 16 | #352 | #396 |
| Pennsylvania | 32 | #353 | #471 |
| Minnesota | 14 | #411 | #458 |
| Kansas | 9 | #422 | #415 |
| Tennessee | 19 | #426 | #545 |
| Ohio | 25 | #434 | #586 |
| Missouri | 15 | #434 | #646 |
| Michigan | 20 | #437 | #622 |
| Indiana | 15 | #479 | #533 |
| Alabama | 10 | #515 | — |
| Iowa | 6 | #558 | #408 |
Births and national rank for each year SSA lists the name, newest first.
| Year | Girls | Girls rank | Boys | Boys rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | — | — | 1,639 | #218 |
| 2024 | — | — | 1,621 | #222 |
| 2023 | — | — | 1,517 | #231 |
| 2022 | — | — | 1,517 | #232 |
| 2021 | — | — | 1,490 | #237 |
| 2020 | — | — | 1,424 | #247 |
| 2019 | — | — | 1,392 | #261 |
| 2018 | — | — | 1,405 | #258 |
| 2017 | — | — | 1,282 | #283 |
| 2016 | — | — | 1,238 | #291 |
| 2015 | — | — | 1,226 | #294 |
| 2014 | — | — | 1,205 | #293 |
| 2013 | — | — | 1,208 | #288 |
| 2012 | — | — | 1,231 | #287 |
| 2011 | — | — | 1,274 | #274 |
| 2010 | — | — | 1,333 | #258 |
| 2009 | 7 | #14,865 | 1,345 | #257 |
| 2008 | 6 | #17,003 | 1,541 | #240 |
| 2007 | — | — | 1,622 | #228 |
| 2006 | 8 | #13,326 | 1,702 | #217 |
| 2005 | 5 | #18,517 | 1,492 | #228 |
| 2004 | 7 | #13,852 | 1,544 | #224 |
| 2003 | 8 | #12,130 | 1,411 | #236 |
| 2002 | 9 | #10,882 | 1,453 | #231 |
| 2001 | 6 | #14,892 | 1,455 | #233 |
| 2000 | — | — | 1,472 | #230 |
| 1999 | 7 | #12,343 | 1,438 | #229 |
| 1998 | 12 | #7,909 | 1,386 | #229 |
| 1997 | 10 | #8,859 | 1,360 | #227 |
| 1996 | 10 | #8,669 | 1,399 | #215 |
| 1995 | 10 | #8,575 | 1,459 | #205 |
| 1994 | 12 | #7,478 | 1,431 | #202 |
| 1993 | 21 | #4,764 | 1,427 | #212 |
| 1992 | 16 | #5,932 | 1,484 | #209 |
| 1991 | 13 | #6,883 | 1,483 | #210 |
| 1990 | 10 | #8,346 | 1,503 | #202 |
| 1989 | 21 | #4,472 | 1,322 | #213 |
| 1988 | 10 | #7,531 | 1,285 | #206 |
| 1987 | 17 | #4,818 | 1,217 | #207 |
| 1986 | 10 | #6,984 | 1,211 | #203 |
| 1985 | 16 | #4,802 | 1,250 | #195 |
| 1984 | 15 | #4,906 | 1,147 | #204 |
| 1983 | 17 | #4,419 | 1,186 | #201 |
| 1982 | 20 | #3,990 | 1,255 | #199 |
| 1981 | 12 | #5,809 | 1,213 | #204 |
| 1980 | 19 | #4,104 | 1,188 | #208 |
| 1979 | 11 | #6,053 | 1,025 | #222 |
| 1978 | 16 | #4,402 | 996 | #218 |
| 1977 | 22 | #3,455 | 1,033 | #215 |
| 1976 | 11 | #5,487 | 976 | #215 |
| 1975 | 9 | #6,314 | 986 | #215 |
| 1974 | 8 | #6,695 | 930 | #226 |
| 1973 | 11 | #5,113 | 906 | #232 |
| 1972 | 12 | #4,722 | 927 | #232 |
| 1971 | 19 | #3,467 | 866 | #257 |
| 1970 | 9 | #5,705 | 947 | #245 |
| 1969 | 6 | #7,235 | 818 | #255 |
| 1968 | — | — | 768 | #259 |
| 1967 | — | — | 669 | #278 |
| 1966 | 8 | #5,161 | 620 | #298 |
| 1965 | 9 | #4,746 | 615 | #304 |
| 1964 | — | — | 582 | #324 |
| 1963 | 11 | #4,201 | 526 | #337 |
| 1962 | 6 | #6,392 | 565 | #332 |
| 1961 | 11 | #4,177 | 581 | #326 |
| 1960 | — | — | 541 | #334 |
| 1959 | — | — | 509 | #345 |
| 1958 | 5 | #6,790 | 503 | #342 |
| 1957 | 5 | #6,809 | 388 | #391 |
| 1956 | — | — | 448 | #349 |
| 1955 | 5 | #6,501 | 417 | #353 |
| 1954 | 5 | #6,420 | 420 | #349 |
| 1953 | — | — | 329 | #384 |
| 1952 | — | — | 366 | #355 |
| 1951 | — | — | 275 | #411 |
| 1950 | — | — | 299 | #389 |
| 1949 | — | — | 260 | #422 |
| 1948 | — | — | 265 | #415 |
| 1947 | — | — | 239 | #436 |
| 1946 | — | — | 196 | #454 |
| 1945 | — | — | 172 | #453 |
| 1944 | — | — | 176 | #458 |
| 1943 | — | — | 140 | #533 |
| 1942 | — | — | 148 | #503 |
| 1941 | — | — | 119 | #548 |
| 1940 | — | — | 118 | #542 |
| 1939 | 5 | #4,799 | 111 | #545 |
| 1938 | — | — | 111 | #549 |
| 1937 | — | — | 106 | #565 |
| 1936 | 6 | #4,065 | 117 | #527 |
| 1935 | — | — | 124 | #519 |
| 1934 | — | — | 132 | #505 |
| 1933 | — | — | 130 | #491 |
| 1932 | 7 | #3,842 | 167 | #435 |
| 1931 | — | — | 190 | #407 |
| 1930 | — | — | 214 | #394 |
| 1929 | 6 | #4,476 | 209 | #403 |
| 1928 | — | — | 215 | #412 |
| 1927 | 5 | #5,458 | 201 | #429 |
| 1926 | — | — | 166 | #467 |
| 1925 | — | — | 178 | #451 |
| 1924 | — | — | 174 | #469 |
| 1923 | 6 | #4,860 | 149 | #501 |
| 1922 | — | — | 146 | #510 |
| 1921 | — | — | 139 | #529 |
| 1920 | — | — | 124 | #550 |
| 1919 | — | — | 108 | #578 |
| 1918 | — | — | 80 | #708 |
| 1917 | — | — | 76 | #698 |
| 1916 | — | — | 73 | #697 |
| 1915 | — | — | 67 | #730 |
| 1914 | — | — | 57 | #677 |
| 1913 | — | — | 51 | #626 |
| 1912 | — | — | 42 | #657 |
| 1911 | — | — | 25 | #622 |
| 1910 | — | — | 29 | #532 |
| 1909 | — | — | 21 | #586 |
| 1908 | — | — | 22 | #549 |
| 1907 | — | — | 18 | #611 |
| 1906 | — | — | 21 | #500 |
| 1905 | — | — | 17 | #586 |
| 1904 | — | — | 22 | #464 |
| 1903 | — | — | 13 | #649 |
| 1902 | — | — | 10 | #782 |
| 1901 | — | — | 16 | #503 |
| 1900 | — | — | 12 | #774 |
| 1899 | — | — | 10 | #701 |
| 1898 | — | — | 8 | #871 |
| 1897 | — | — | 12 | #638 |
| 1896 | — | — | 7 | #962 |
| 1895 | — | — | 11 | #668 |
| 1894 | — | — | 8 | #845 |
| 1893 | — | — | 6 | #1,004 |
| 1892 | — | — | 7 | #934 |
| 1891 | — | — | 6 | #937 |
| 1890 | — | — | 9 | #724 |
| 1889 | — | — | 8 | #775 |
| 1888 | — | — | 9 | #744 |
| 1887 | — | — | 8 | #733 |
| 1885 | — | — | 6 | #917 |
| 1884 | — | — | 5 | #1,090 |
| 1883 | — | — | 7 | #786 |
| 1882 | — | — | 6 | #922 |
| 1881 | — | — | 9 | #643 |
| 1880 | — | — | 7 | #793 |
About the data: counts are Social Security card applications for US births, for names given to at least five babies of a sex in a year (SSA, names.zip, public domain). Ranks follow SSA’s own order: most births first, ties alphabetical. Files retrieved 2026-10-05 (checksum on our sources page).