How common is the surname Rafferty?

9,311 people in the United States had the surname Rafferty in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 33,159 Americans. It ranked 3,802nd of 162,253 surnames.

What ethnicity is the surname Rafferty?

In the 2010 Census, 95% of people named Rafferty identified as white (not Hispanic), and 2.0% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

Who is the most famous person named Rafferty?

Sarah Rafferty, American actress, followed by Frances Rafferty.

Where is the surname Rafferty most common?

Wikidata records people named Rafferty in the United States and Australia.

Is the surname Rafferty getting more or less common?

More common. 9,077 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 9,311 in 2010, up 2.6%.

The surname Rafferty

An Irish surname, carried by 9,311 people in the United States.

3 syllables Soundex R163

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Rafferty is more common than 97.7% of them.

Origin

Irish origin

Anglicized form of Irish Ó Rabhartaigh (“descendants of Rabhartach”), a personal name derived from rabharta (“flood, tide”).

One of 880 Irish surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 9,311 people named Rafferty in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 33,159 Americans. That is up 2.6% since 2000, when the Census counted 9,077.

#3,802

rank among US surnames

9,311

people in 2010

3.2

per 100,000 Americans

+2.6%

change since 2000 (was #3,595)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#3,793	Bolen	9,323	33,117
#3,794	Reno	9,322	33,120
#3,795	McFarlane	9,319	33,131
#3,796	Hulsey	9,317	33,138
#3,797	Seal	9,316	33,141
#3,798	Roby	9,315	33,145
#3,799	Ripley	9,314	33,149

Who is named Rafferty

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

95% of people named Rafferty identified as white (not Hispanic), 2.0% as Hispanic or Latino (any race) and 1.2% as two or more races.

White (not Hispanic) 95%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.0%
Two or more races 1.2%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.6%
Black (not Hispanic) 0.5%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.3%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Raffertys

4 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Sarah Rafferty
American actress, born 1972
Frances Rafferty
American actress (1922-2004)
Chips Rafferty
Australian actor (1909–1971)
Kevin Rafferty
American filmmaker (1948–2020)

Notable Raffertys come mostly from the United States (3) and Australia (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Variant spellings

Raffety

Rafferty has the Soundex code R163, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code R163.

Other Irish surnames

All 880 Irish surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Rafferty come from?: Anglicized form of Irish Ó Rabhartaigh (“descendants of Rabhartach”), a personal name derived from rabharta (“flood, tide”).
How common is the surname Rafferty?: 9,311 people in the United States had the surname Rafferty in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 33,159 Americans. It ranked 3,802nd of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Rafferty?: In the 2010 Census, 95% of people named Rafferty identified as white (not Hispanic), and 2.0% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).
Who is the most famous person named Rafferty?: Sarah Rafferty, American actress, followed by Frances Rafferty.
Where is the surname Rafferty most common?: Wikidata records people named Rafferty in the United States and Australia.
Is the surname Rafferty getting more or less common?: More common. 9,077 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 9,311 in 2010, up 2.6%.
What are other spellings of Rafferty?: Raffety.