first name
RAFAEL
of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census
Of the 148,942 people named Rafael, 90.6% reported their origin as Hispanic or Latino, 5.5% as White and 1.8% as Asian or Pacific Islander. Virtually all are male (99.7%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.
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Rafael peaked in 2006, when 1,710 babies got the name.
At least 89,947 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.
Rafael by decade
Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1990s, when it ranked #422. The largest share of babies named Rafael, 25.7%, were born between 1997 and 2012, as Generation Z.
Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.
Where Rafael is most common
Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Rafael has been most common in California (2.8×), Arizona (2.6×), and Texas (2.5×), and least common in Kentucky (0.05×).
86,162 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.
Either side of Rafael
Spelled almost the same
6 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Rafael, most common first.
Also a last name
As a last name, Rafael ranks #8,583 of 156,621, with 3,676 people. See Rafael as a last name
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