How rare is the name Rafaela?

10,532 people in the United States have the first name Rafaela, about 1 in 28,678. It ranks #2,376 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

RAFAELA

#2,376

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
10,532
About
1 in 28,678
This common or more
79.6%
Who bears it

Of the 10,532 people named Rafaela, 86.1% reported their origin as Hispanic or Latino, 10.4% as White and 1.6% as Asian or Pacific Islander. Virtually all are female (99.5%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Rafaela peaked in 2011, when 60 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18872025
Peak year
2011
Births that year
60
In 2025*
58 ▼3%
Recorded as
almost entirely female

At least 3,516 babies have been given the name since 1887. 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.

Rafaela by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1900s, when it ranked #1,862. The largest share of babies named Rafaela, 19.7%, were born between 1901 and 1927, the Greatest Generation's birth years.

1880s#2,56212
1890s#2,40838
1900s#1,862107
1910s#2,424233
1920s#2,115437
1930s#2,526286
1940s#2,938256
1950s#3,315279
1960s#4,362201
1970s#4,973225
1980s#5,740234
1990s#7,521222
2000s#8,043276
2010s#6,416416
2020s#5,717294
Before 19011.6%
Greatest Generation 1901–2719.7%
Silent Generation 1928–4514.4%
Baby boom 1946–6414.2%
Generation X 1965–809.8%
Millennials 1981–9610.3%
Generation Z 1997–1213.5%
2013 and later16.5%

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 Rafaela is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Rafaela has been most common in Texas (6.9×), California (2.8×), and Florida (1.5×), and least common in New York (1.2×).

1,945 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 Rafaela

#2,374 Chantal · 10,546#2,375 Franco · 10,542#2,377 Amiyah · 10,530#2,378 Suzan · 10,523

Spelled almost the same

8 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Rafaela, most common first.

#373 Rafael · 148,942#6,837 Rafal · 2,298#9,692 Raffaele · 1,420#13,556 Rafaella · 888#13,866 Rafel · 861#15,188 Raffaella · 761#16,723 Raphaela · 670#17,747 Raffaela · 616

Also a last name

As a last name, Rafaela ranks #117,879 of 156,621, with 156 people. See Rafaela as a last name

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