Recorded 1922–2013 Boys' name Peak 1970 125 births

Rafel — boys' name

125 babies named Rafel in U.S. Social Security records since 1922, with the highest year being 1970. Year-by-year trend, decade aggregates, and state-level rankings drawn from federal birth data.

1920s51930s61960s141970s331980s401990s162000s62010s5
1980s
Peak decade

32% of everyone ever named Rafel was born in this single decade.

1970
Single peak year

10 babies were named Rafel in 1970 — its busiest year on record.

What the Data Says About Rafel

The Social Security Administration has registered 125 babies named Rafel between 1922 and 2013, spanning 92 consecutive years of U.S. birth records. As a boy's name, Rafel currently falls outside the top 1,000 boys' names for 2013. The name reached its historical peak in 1970, when 10 babies received it in a single year.

Decade-level aggregation shows that Rafel performed strongest in the 1980s, accumulating 40 births during that ten-year window. Across the 8 decades of recorded activity, Rafel shows a clear decline from its mid-century high.

No etymological entry is currently available for Rafel in our reference dataset. These figures derive from SSA's annual national and state-level name files, which include any name appearing at least five times in a given year or state-year; names below that threshold are suppressed for privacy and therefore excluded from the totals shown here. The 125 total represents a lower bound — actual usage may be higher in years or states where the count fell below the disclosure floor. This page is provided for informational and research purposes only and does not constitute personal, legal, or naming advice.

Rafel at a glance

Last recorded 2013

Total births

125

Since 1922

92 years of records

Peak year

1970

10 births that year

Strongest decade: 1980s

Current rank

Unranked

Outside the modern top-1,000

As of 2013

Active since

1922

Recorded for 92 years

Last year on file: 2013

Rafel popularity over time

Annual U.S. births registered with the Social Security Administration · 2013–1922

Last recorded 2013
Peak year (1970)
10
Annual births at peak — across 92 years of records
4681012 20131991198819811975197019301922 5

Rafel by decade

Total births in each ten-year window — peak vs trough at a glance

Peak: 1980s
Peak decade
1980s
40 births that decade — 32% of Rafel's all-time total
1920s51930s61960s141970s331980s401990s162000s62010s5

Frequently Asked Questions

How popular is the name Rafel?
125 babies have been named Rafel since 1922. It was last recorded in 2013. The peak year was 1970 with 10 births.
When was Rafel most popular?
Rafel was most popular in the 1980s decade with 40 total births. The single peak year was 1970.
How long has the name Rafel been used?
Rafel has been recorded in Social Security data since 1922, spanning 92 years of data through 2013.
What names are similar to Rafel?
Names with a similar sound or spelling include Rafael, Rafe, Raffaele, Rafeal, and 4 more. These share a common prefix and are also used for boys.

Data Sources

Data as of 2024. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA).

Primary: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications — National Data, 1922–2013 (ssa.gov/oact/babynames). National-level data includes all names with 5 or more occurrences in a given year.

State-level: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names — State-Level Files (namesbystate.zip). Includes all names with 5 or more occurrences per state per year; rarer names are excluded for privacy.