# Rafi (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/rafi/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname from Arabic.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | Arabic |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 594 |
| US rank (2010) | 37,492 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 519,774 people |
| Change since 2000 | +59% (373 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic رَافِع (rāfiʕ, “hoister, exalter, raiser”) or رَفِيع (rafīʕ, “elevated, high, noble”). This surname is predominantly found in Bangladesh.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Rafi in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 27% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 3.2% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 60% |
| Two or more races | 6.6% |

## Similar surnames

Raff, Ravi, Raffa, Rubio, Ruff, Rapp, Robb, Rupp, Roby, Ruby, Rife, Reeve.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.