How common is the surname Rafter?

1,673 people in the United States had the surname Rafter in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 184,546 Americans. It ranked 16,984th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Rafter?

Patrick Rafter, Australian tennis player.

Where is the surname Rafter most common?

Wikidata records people named Rafter in Australia.

Is the surname Rafter getting more or less common?

More common. 1,635 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 1,673 in 2010, up 2.3%.

The surname Rafter

A surname, carried by 1,673 people in the United States.

2 syllables Soundex R136

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Rafter is more common than 89.5% of them.

Origin

A surname.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 1,673 people named Rafter in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 184,546 Americans. That is up 2.3% since 2000, when the Census counted 1,635.

#16,984

rank among US surnames

1,673

people in 2010

0.6

per 100,000 Americans

+2.3%

change since 2000 (was #16,238)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#16,975	Vanvliet	1,674	184,436
#16,984	Arita	1,673	184,546
#16,993	Rodger	1,672	184,656

Who is named Rafter

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

92% of people named Rafter identified as white (not Hispanic), 3.8% as Black (not Hispanic) and 1.9% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 92%
Black (not Hispanic) 3.8%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 1.9%
Two or more races 1.4%

The Census suppresses very small shares to protect privacy; Asian & Pacific Islander, Native American are not shown.

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Rafters

1 notable person on Wikidata, most written-about first

Patrick Rafter
Australian tennis player, born 1972

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Rafter

Raftery

Rafter has the Soundex code R136, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code R136.

Questions

How common is the surname Rafter?: 1,673 people in the United States had the surname Rafter in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 184,546 Americans. It ranked 16,984th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Rafter?: In the 2010 Census, 92% of people named Rafter identified as white (not Hispanic), and 3.8% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Rafter?: Patrick Rafter, Australian tennis player.
Where is the surname Rafter most common?: Wikidata records people named Rafter in Australia.
Is the surname Rafter getting more or less common?: More common. 1,635 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 1,673 in 2010, up 2.3%.