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 [ 3 syll. rap-hae(l), ra-pha-el ] The boy name Raphael is pronounced as RAAFayEHL KEY. Raphael is used chiefly in the English, French, German, and Hebrew languages, and it is derived from Hebrew origins. The name is of the meaning God has healed. Biblical name derived from the elements 'rapha' meaning to heal ; 'el' meaning God, powerful. Rephael (Hebrew) is an older form of Raphael. The name was borne by one of the seven archangels who appeared in the apocryphal tale of Tobias but was not named in the Bible. The short form Rapha was borne by several minor Old Testament characters in the Bible. It was consequently a favorite among early Christians, but its medieval use was mainly Jewish, before its widespread adoption among English speakers by the 16th century. The name was borne by the famous Italian Renaissance painter and architect Raphael Sanzio (1483-1520). In Europe, the name has been more popular in the southern countries than in England. It later saw a modest revival at the end of the 19th century. The name Raphaela (English and German) is the female form of Raphael. Raphael is a widely used name; it has 24 variants that are used in both English and other languages. Variants of Raphael used in English include Raf, Rafe, Rafi (used in Arabic too), and Rapha. Foreign variants of Raphael include Felio (Spanish), Rafael (German, Hebrew, Portuguese, Romanian, and Spanish), Rafaele (Italian), Rafaelle (Italian), Rafaello (Italian), Rafaelo (Spanish), Rafal (Polish), Rafeal (Spanish), Rafel (Catalan and Spanish), Raffael (German, Portuguese, and Spanish), Raffaele (Italian), Raffaello (Italian), Raffaelo (Italian), Rafito (Spanish), Raphaël (French), Raphel (Spanish), Refael (Hebrew), Refi (Hebrew), and Rephael (Hebrew). Another foreign variant is the pet form Rafa (Spanish). Raphael is fairly popular as a baby name for boys. The name's popularity jumped from the 1900s up to the 1990s; before that, it was of irregular use only. At the modest height of its usage in 1990, 0.021% of baby boys were given the name Raphael. Its ranking then was #465. The baby name has since experienced a fall in popularity. In 2008, its usage was 0.018% and its ranking #630. Within the group of boy names directly linked to Raphael, Rafael (German, Hebrew, Portuguese, Romanian, and Spanish) was the most commonly used. In 2008, its use outnumbered Raphael's by 4 times. Baby names that sound like Raphael include Rafael (German, Hebrew, Portuguese, Romanian, and Spanish), Rafaele (Italian), Raffael (German, Portuguese, and Spanish), Raphaël (French), Rafaello (Italian), Raffaello (Italian), Refael (Hebrew), Rephael (Hebrew), Rafaelle (Italian), Rafaelo (Spanish), Rafal (Polish), Rafeal (Spanish), Rafel (Catalan and Spanish), Raffaele (Italian), Raffaelo (Italian), Raphel (Spanish), and Ripley (English). A famous person named Raphael is Artist Raphael, born 6 April 1483 - 6 April 1520, Urbino, Duchy of Urbino. KEY: Pronunciation for Raphael: R as in "read (R.IY.D)" ; AA as in "odd (AA.D)" ; F as in "fee (F.IY)" ; AY as in "hide (HH.AY.D)" ; EH as in "Ed (EH.D)" ; L as in "lee (L.IY)"   |
