Rafaella vs Rafeal
American parents have registered 925 Rafeals since 1880, against 789 Rafaellas. But in 2025 it was Rafaella that was commoner, 32 babies to fewer than five.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Rafaella Rafeal
Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.
Who was ahead
Of the 71 years in which either name was published, Rafeal for 44 years and Rafaella for 27 years. The lead changed hands 3 times.
Side by side
| Rafaella | Rafeal | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 789 | 925 |
| Most in one year | 49 | 43 |
| Babies in 2025 | 32 | under 5 |
| Estimated living today | 780 | 860 |
| Median age today | 10 | 39 |
| Peak year | 2022 | 1989 |
| Best rank | 3,278th girls | 1,766th boys |
| Rank in 2025 | 4,352nd | unranked |
| First recorded | 1986 | 1930 |
| Girls / boys | 789 / 0 | 0 / 925 |
A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.
Which name is older
Half of the Rafeals alive today are over 39; half the Rafaellas are over 10. That is 29 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.
Where each one is strongest
- Rafaella Florida (8.9×), New Jersey (4.5×), Massachusetts (3.4×)
- Rafeal Georgia (14.7×)
How much commoner the name is in that state than it is nationally, from births recorded since 1910.
Compare something else
Related comparisons
Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Rafaella and Rafeal.