How Many People Are Named Rafael?
An estimated 79,894 people in the United States have the first name Rafael. It is predominantly male (99.4%). The average bearer is 32 years old, and Rafael peaked in popularity in 2006 with 1,710 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Rafael as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Rafael paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- While Rafael is overwhelmingly male, 569 female births have been registered with this name since 1880.
Estimated Living Americans
79,894
About 1 in 4,290 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Uncommon
Predicted Gender
Male
99.4% confidence
Average Age
32
years old
Peak Year
2006
1,710 births
Total Registered
88,294
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Rafael
Rafael is almost exclusively a male name. Out of 88,294 total births registered, 99.4% were male.
Rafael as a male name
Ranked #222 in 2024
1,614 male births in 2024
Peak: 2006 (1,702 births)
Rafael as a female name
Ranked #14,865 in 2009
7 female births in 2009
Peak: 1977 (22 births)
Rafael: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Rafael span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 2000s, when 15,093 babies were registered. While Rafael is less common than at its peak in the 2000s, it remains a well-established name with steady registrations.
Rafael by Decade
How has Rafael tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
| Decade | Total | Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 65 | 65 | 0 | |
| 1890s | 84 | 84 | 0 | |
| 1900s | 172 | 172 | 0 | |
| 1910s | 608 | 608 | 0 | |
| 1920s | 1,718 | 1,701 | 17 | |
| 1930s | 1,420 | 1,402 | 18 | |
| 1940s | 1,833 | 1,833 | 0 | |
| 1950s | 3,975 | 3,954 | 21 | |
| 1960s | 6,337 | 6,286 | 51 | |
| 1970s | 9,720 | 9,592 | 128 | |
| 1980s | 12,431 | 12,274 | 157 | |
| 1990s | 14,491 | 14,370 | 121 | |
| 2000s | 15,093 | 15,037 | 56 | |
| 2010s | 12,790 | 12,790 | 0 | |
| 2020s | 7,557 | 7,557 | 0 | |
Rafael by State
Birth registrations for Rafael span all 43 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in California, Texas, New York. The lowest are in South Dakota, Delaware, Hawaii. On average, about 1,966 Rafaels were registered per state.
Rafael + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Rafael as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Rafael
Other first names starting with R with a similar number of bearers.
Rafael: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rafael?
We estimate approximately 79,894 people named Rafael are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 4,290 Americans share this first name.
Is Rafael a common name?
Rafael is classified as "Uncommon" and is more popular than 99.4% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 88,294 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Rafael most popular?
Rafael reached peak popularity in 2006, when 1,710 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Rafael is approximately 32 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Rafael a male name?
Rafael is predominantly male. 99.4% of people with this name are male. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Rafael Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Rafael Smith, Rafael Johnson, Rafael Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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