Recorded 1882–2025 · United States
Raphael was most popular in 2025, when 807 American babies were given the name — ranking #792 that year. In 2025 it ranked #792, with 807 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 24,581 people named Raphael.
Raphael first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1882, which makes it about 143 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 139 of the 144 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 24,581 American births named Raphael between 1880 and 2025. That is recorded US births, not a world population — it counts people issued a Social Security number at birth in the United States. Of those, roughly 20,499 are estimated to be alive today.
807 American babies were named Raphael in 2025, ranking #792 that year.
Raphael is rising. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 688 births a year, against 432 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of +59% over the decade.
Measured on recorded births. American births overall have fallen since 2007, so most established names lose births over any recent decade — a name can shed births and still hold its rank. Compare the rank above, which is measured against the other names of the same year.
Across the whole record Raphael is a boy’s name — 1.3% of the 24,581 Americans given it were girls and 98.7% were boys. In births since 2016 it is 0% girls and 100% boys.
Counted from every US birth the Social Security Administration recorded under this name, so it reflects use rather than opinion. A name given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year is withheld at source and is not counted.
Roughly 20,499 Americans named Raphael are alive today — 83% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 21 years old, and half are between 9 and 39. That is a wide band, the mark of a name in steady use across generations rather than a passing fashion.
An estimate, not a count. Recorded births are carried forward through the Social Security Administration’s 2023 period life table, by age and sex. That table describes mortality in one recent year, so it credits the oldest cohorts with today’s survival rather than the harsher rates they actually lived through — the further back a name peaked, the more this will overstate how many remain. It counts people issued a Social Security number at birth, not immigrants who arrived later.
How much more common the name is in each state than across the country as a whole.
See Raphael on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org