Rafael
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name from Hebrew of biblical origin; sometimes used as a Christianized form of Ragnvald. From Hebrew רָפָאֵל (Rāfāʾēl).
Source: Wiktionary, Swedish entry for Rafael (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Rafael has been fairly steady over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2020. The figures are for this exact spelling; other spellings of the name are counted on their own.
Years with fewer than two babies (fewer than ten before 2004) show as zero in the chart and as – in the table.
Show the figures
| Year | Boys |
|---|---|
| 1998 | – |
| 1999 | – |
| 2000 | 16 |
| 2001 | 11 |
| 2002 | – |
| 2003 | 13 |
| 2004 | 17 |
| 2005 | 12 |
| 2006 | 25 |
| 2007 | 19 |
| 2008 | 19 |
| 2009 | 20 |
| 2010 | 33 |
| 2011 | 28 |
| 2012 | 33 |
| 2013 | 18 |
| 2014 | 33 |
| 2015 | 34 |
| 2016 | 28 |
| 2017 | 41 |
| 2018 | 30 |
| 2019 | 37 |
| 2020 | 42 |
| 2021 | 41 |
| 2022 | 31 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Men and boys |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 380 |
| 2000 | 411 |
| 2001 | 432 |
| 2002 | 444 |
| 2003 | 455 |
| 2004 | 489 |
| 2005 | 514 |
| 2006 | 546 |
| 2007 | 575 |
| 2008 | 616 |
| 2009 | 648 |
| 2010 | 683 |
| 2011 | 714 |
| 2012 | 748 |
| 2013 | 789 |
| 2014 | 840 |
| 2015 | 895 |
| 2016 | 937 |
| 2017 | 992 |
| 2018 | 1,054 |
| 2019 | 1,131 |
| 2020 | 1,175 |
Rafael in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Rafael.Hi! My name is Rafael.
- Har du träffat Rafael? Han började jobba här i måndags.Have you met Rafael? He started working here on Monday.
- Rafael har bott i Uppsala i tre år.Rafael has lived in Uppsala for three years.
- Rafaels mamma är lärare.Rafael's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Rafaels mamma is Rafael's mum.
More names
Questions about Rafael
How do you pronounce Rafael in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Rafael in your device's Swedish voice.
What does the name Rafael mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name from Hebrew of biblical origin; sometimes used as a Christianized form of Ragnvald. From Hebrew רָפָאֵל (Rāfāʾēl).
How popular is Rafael in Sweden?
31 babies were named Rafael in 2022. In 2020, 1,175 people in Sweden had Rafael as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been fairly steady lately and peaked in 2020 in the years SCB covers (1998–2022).
Popularity figures: Statistics Sweden (SCB), name statistics (BE0001) from the Statistical Database, released as open data under CC0. Each spelling is counted as its own name, as SCB does. SCB's open name statistics end with babies named in 2022 and the population on 31 December 2020; SCB stopped producing name statistics in 2024 and now points to the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) for newer figures.
Origins, IPA and recordings: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), via kaikki.org; recordings from Lingua Libre on Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA). Lingolib is not affiliated with SCB or Wiktionary. Sources last checked 7 October 2026.