# Rafe (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/rafe/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | not recorded |
| Meaning | not recorded |
| Pronunciation | /ɹeɪf/, 1 syllable |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | Rafa |
| US babies named this | 2,935 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 2,935 / 0 (0% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 2,888, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

Medieval spelling variant of Ralph.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 80 | 1,806 |
| 2012 | 76 | 1,904 |
| 2013 | 78 | 1,846 |
| 2014 | 94 | 1,650 |
| 2015 | 83 | 1,814 |
| 2016 | 87 | 1,771 |
| 2017 | 87 | 1,775 |
| 2018 | 61 | 2,253 |
| 2019 | 71 | 2,059 |
| 2020 | 70 | 2,042 |
| 2021 | 92 | 1,759 |
| 2022 | 123 | 1,475 |
| 2023 | 125 | 1,455 |
| 2024 | 149 | 1,312 |
| 2025 | 179 | 1,165 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 59 | 588 |
| 2012 | 79 | 484 |
| 2013 | 121 | 342 |
| 2014 | 112 | 367 |
| 2015 | 174 | 281 |
| 2016 | 165 | 297 |
| 2017 | 160 | 312 |
| 2018 | 140 | 328 |
| 2019 | 118 | 372 |
| 2020 | 175 | 269 |
| 2021 | 248 | 213 |
| 2022 | 243 | 210 |
| 2023 | 214 | 228 |
| 2024 | 199 | 247 |
| 2025 | 255 | 201 |

## In other languages

- Portuguese: Rafa
- Spanish: Rafa

## People named Rafe

- Rafe Spall, English actor (born 1983)
- Rafe de Crespigny, Australian sinologist and historian (born 1936)
- Jack Flaherty, American baseball player (born 1995)

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.