Skip to content
Name Lineage

    The surname Rafi

    An Arabic surname, carried by 594 people in the United States.

    2 syllables Soundex R100

    Rafi: #37,492 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#10Martinez#100Jimenez#1,000Archer#10,001Dubon Rafi #37,492, 594 people Rafi: #37,492 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#100Jimenez Rafi #37,492, 594 people
    Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Rafi is more common than 76.9% of them.

    Origin

    Arabic origin

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

    One of 179 Arabic surnames on this site.

    Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

    How common it is

    2010 US Census

    There were 594 people named Rafi in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 519,774 Americans. That is up 59% since 2000, when the Census counted 373.

    #37,492
    rank among US surnames
    594
    people in 2010
    0.2
    per 100,000 Americans
    +59.2%
    change since 2000 (was #52,289)

    Who is named Rafi

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

    60% of people named Rafi identified as Asian and Pacific Islander, 27% as white (not Hispanic) and 6.6% as two or more races.

    • Asian and Pacific Islander 60%
    • White (not Hispanic) 27%
    • Two or more races 6.6%
    • Black (not Hispanic) 3.2%
    The Census suppresses very small shares to protect privacy; Hispanic, Native American are not shown.

    Compare: most common surnames among Asian and Pacific Islander Americans.

    Spellings and sound-alikes

    Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

    Surnames that sound like Rafi

    Rafi has the Soundex code R100, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code R100.

    Other Arabic surnames

    All 179 Arabic surnames

    Questions

    Where does the surname Rafi come from?
    Borrowed from Arabic رَافِع (rāfiʕ, “hoister, exalter, raiser”) or رَفِيع (rafīʕ, “elevated, high, noble”). This surname is predominantly found in Bangladesh.
    How common is the surname Rafi?
    594 people in the United States had the surname Rafi in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 519,774 Americans. It ranked 37,492nd of 162,253 surnames.
    What ethnicity is the surname Rafi?
    In the 2010 Census, 60% of people named Rafi identified as Asian and Pacific Islander, and 27% as white (not Hispanic).
    Is the surname Rafi getting more or less common?
    More common. 373 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 594 in 2010, up 59%.