Raffaele
Masculine · “God has healed”
Raffaele is Italy's Raphael, and the name is a sentence: God has healed. The archangel it belongs to is the one who travels as a companion in the book of Tobit and cures blindness at the end of it, which is why he is the patron of travelers and of the sick.
How old is the name Raffaele?
Raffaele first appears in US birth records in 1908 — 117 years ago. The typical Raffaele alive today was born around 1982, making them about 43 years old. About 900 people named Raffaele are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Raffaele most popular?
Raffaele peaked in 1908, reaching #1217 nationally. Today it ranks #4857, 3,640 places below that high. See the whole 1908 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Rapha'el to Raffaele
The story of Raffaele
Raphael appears by name only in Tobit, a book the Catholic and Orthodox churches keep and Protestants set aside, which is why the name has always been commoner in Catholic countries. Italy took it thoroughly, and the Renaissance painter from Urbino made it a byword for grace. Naples and the south used it most, and Italian families brought it to American records in numbers between the eighteen-eighties and the nineteen-twenties, where it was frequently anglicized to Ralph, a name it has nothing to do with.
Meaning
God has healed
Hebrew Rapha'el: rapha, to heal, joined to El, God. The name is spoken as a completed statement rather than a wish, in the same construction as Michael and Gabriel.
How the name formed
- Rapha'el
- Raphael
- Raffaele
Related forms: Rafael · Raphaël · Rafael · Raphael · רפאל · Rafał
Pronouncing Raffaele
rahf-fah-EH-leh
Four syllables in Italian with the stress on the third and the double f held. English speakers usually say raf-fy-EL with three, and Italian-American families use both.
Nicknames for Raffaele
High
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1908
- Most boys named
- 197723 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1217reached in 1908
- Change vs 2023
- +42.9%20 in 2025, from 14
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Raffaele in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Rafael in Spanish — same name
- Raphaël in French — same name
- Rafael in Portuguese — same name
- Raphael in German — same name
- רפאל in Hebrew — transliteration
- Rafał in Polish — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: New Jersey, New York.
Raffaeles among us
people named Raffaele are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 85,404 born in 2025 was named Raffaele
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Raffaele sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Raffaele beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Raffaele in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The meaning is a complete sentence about healing, and it is settled.
- Rafa and Lele are established short forms with quite different registers.
- The name is recognized in Italian, Spanish, French, German and Portuguese at once.
- Rafael and Raphael are both far commoner spellings and will be written instead.
- Four syllables with a doubled consonant is more than English usually manages.
- American families historically substituted Ralph, which severs the connection entirely.
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Raffaele
Masculine · #4857 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Raffaeles are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 900 people named Raffaele are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Raffaele in 2025?
- Raffaele ranks #4857 among US boy names in 2025, with 20 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Raffaele?
- About 1 in every 85,404 US boys born in 2025 was named Raffaele — 20 in all.
- Will my child share the name Raffaele with classmates?
- Raffaele will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Raffaele
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Carlyle#4857 · Russ#4857 · Hercules#4857 · Marcial#4857 · Lauro#4857 · Marin#4857 · Gil#4857 · Aloysius#4857
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Raffaele? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Raffaele and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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