Raphael (given name)

Raphael
	Archangel Raphael
Pronunciation	/ˈræfeɪəl, ˈræfiəl, ˈreɪfiəl, ræfaɪˈɛl/ RAF-ay-əl, RA(Y)F-ee-əl, raf-eye-EL
Gender	Male
Origin
Word/name	Hebrew
Meaning	"God has healed"
Region of origin	Israel
Other names
Related names	Raphaël; Rafał; Rafael; Raffael; Raffaelo; Raffaello; Raffiel; Refoel; Raffaele; Refael; Rapolas;

Raphael is a given name derived from the Hebrew rāp̄ā'ēl (רָפָאֵל) meaning "God has healed". Raphael is one of the archangels according to Abrahamic tradition. The angel Raphael appears in the Book of Tobit, considered deuterocanonical by the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches and apocryphal by Protestants. Popularized in Western Europe, the name can be spelled Raphael, Raphaël, Rafael, Raffael, Raffaello, Raffiel, Refoel, Raffaele, or Refael depending on the language.

The name is attested as far back as c. 1350 BC, appearing in a letter of Pabi, Prince of Lachish in center Israel, to Pharaoh Akhenaton ("Now have I sent you Rapha-el.").^[1]

Usage of the name in the Anglosphere has been primarily among Roman Catholics. English Puritans considered it sacrilegious to name a child for an angel. United States census records show that men with the name Rafael or Raphael lived primarily in Spanish-speaking or French-speaking areas. The name has increased in use in the late 20th and early 21st centuries due to cultural influences such as Raphael, a character from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.^[2]

Translations

Amharic: ሩፋኤል (Rufael)
Arabic: رفائيل‎ (Rāfāʿīl)
Armenian: Ռաֆայել (Ṙafayel)
Azerbaijani: Rafael
Belarusian: Рафаэль (Rafaeĺ)
Bengali: রাফায়েল (Rāphāẏēl)
Catalan: Rafel
Cebuano: Rapáel
Chamorro: Rafet
Chinese Simplified: 拉斐尔 (Lā fěi ěr)
Chinese Traditional: 拉斐爾 (Lā fěi ěr)
Coptic: Ⲣⲁⲫⲁⲏⲗ (Rapha’êl)
Czech: Rafael
Esperanto: Rafaelo
Finnish: Rafael
French: Raphaël
German: Raphael
Greek: Ραφαήλ (Rafaī́l)
Gujarati: રાફેલ (Rāphēla)
Hebrew: רפאל (Rafa'el)
Hindi: रफएल (Rapha'ēla)
Indonesian: Rafael
Italian: Raffaello, Raffaele
Japanese: ラファエル (Rafaeru)
Kannada: ರಾಫೆಲ್ (Rāphel)
Korean: 라파엘 (Lapael)
Latin: Raphael, Rafelu^[3]
Lithuanian: Rapolas
Macedonian: Рафаел (Rafael)
Maltese: Rafel
Montenegrin: Rafailo (Рафаило), Rafail (Рафаил)
Malayalam: റപ്പായേൽ (Rāppāēl)
Mongolian: Рафаэль (Rafaeli)
Nepali: रफाएल (Raphā'ēla)
Old Norse: Raife, also nickname ''Raðulfr''
Norwegian: Rafael
Persian: رافائل (Rāfāel)
Polish: Rafał
Portuguese: Rafael
Punjabi: ਰਾਫਾਈਲ (Rāphā'īla)
Romanian: Rafael
Russian: Рафаил (Rafail)
Serbian: Рафаило (Rafailo)
Slovenian: Rafael
Spanish: Rafael (Rafa'el)
Tagalog: Rafael, also nickname "Paeng"^[4]^[5]
Tamil: ரபேல் (Rapēl)
Telugu: రాఫెల్ (Rāphel)
Thai: ราฟาเอล (Rā fā xel)
Ukrainian: Рафаїл (Rafaīl)
Urdu: رافائيل‎ (Rāfāʿēl)

Raphael

Raphael (archangel), an archangel in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, after whom all or most other uses are named

Mononym

Raphael, or Raffaello Sanzio (1483–1520), Italian master painter and architect in the High Renaissance
Raphael (singer) (born 1943), Spanish singer
Raphael (musician) (born 1948), American musician
Raphael of Brooklyn (1860–1915), a saint in the Christian Orthodox tradition
Raphael of Lesbos (died 1463), Eastern Orthodox saint, see Saints Raphael, Nicholas and Irene of Lesbos
Patriarch Raphael I of Constantinople, Patriarch from 1475 to 1476
Patriarch Raphael II of Constantinople, Patriarch from 1603 to 1607
pseudonym of Robert Cross Smith (1795–1832)

Birth

Raphael Abramovitch (1880–1963), Russian bundist and communist politician
Raphael Almeida-Knüttgen (born 1991), Brazilian footballer
Raphael Sylvanus Amegashie (1927–2013), Ghanaian entrepreneur, accountant, and politician
Raphael Benjamin (1846–1906), British-born Australian and American rabbi
Rafael Bermúdez (born 1978), Uruguayan footballer
Raphael I Bidawid (1922–2003), Patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church in 1989–2003
Raphael Bob-Waksberg (born 1984), American comedian, writer and creator of BoJack Horseman
Raphael Botti (born 1982), Brazilian footballer
Raphael Hayyim Isaac Carregal (1733–1777), itinerant rabbi and preacher from the Ottoman Empire
Raphael Chukwu (born 1975), Nigerian football (soccer) player
Raphael Davis (born 1976), American mixed martial artist
Raphael Dwamena (born 1995), Ghanaian footballer
Raphael Girard (1898-1982), Anthropologist and writer
Raphael Gray (born 1981), British computer hacker
Raphael Gualazzi (born 1981), Italian singer and pianist
Raphael Holinshed (1529–1580), English chronicler
Raphael Holzdeppe (born 1989), German pole vaulter
Raphael Kalinowski (1835–1907), Polish saint in the Discalced Carmelite Order
Raphael Koster (born 1971), American game designer
Raphael Lasker (1838–1904), German-American rabbi
Raphael Lemkin, Holocaust survivor
Raphael Martelli (1811–1880), first Catholic priest in Toodyay, Western Australia
Raphael Matos (born 1981), Brazilian racing driver
Rafael "Rafi" Menco (born 1994), Israeli basketball player for Hapoel Holon in the Israeli Basketball Premier League
Raphael Nathan Nota Rabinovicz (1835–1888), rabbi from the Russian Empire
Raphael Ohin (born 1995), Ghanaian footballer
Raphael M. Quaye (born 1975), Liberian basketball player
Raphael Saadiq (born 1966), American singer, songwriter, musician, guitarist, and record producer
Raphael Schäfer (born 1979), German footballer
Raphael Semmes (1809–1877), officer in the United States Navy from 1826 to 1860 and the Confederate States Navy from 1860 to 1865
Raphael Warnock (born 1969), American pastor and U.S. Senator from Georgia

Fictional characters

Raphael, one of the four Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Raphael Kirsten, a fictional character in the video game Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Raphael Sorel, a fictional character in Soulcalibur series of video games

Raphaël

Raphaël is a French masculine given name.

Raphaël Alibert (1887–1963), French politician
Raphaël Astier (born 1976), French modern pentathlete
Raphaël Bretton (1920–2011), French set decorator
Raphaël Chaume, French rugby union footballer
Raphaël Domjan, Swiss explorer
Raphaël Enthoven, French philosopher
Raphaël Garcia (born 1999), Canadian soccer player
Raphaël Géminiani (1925–2024), French road bicycle racer
Raphaël Haroche (born 1975), French singer, known by the mononym Raphaël
Rafael Pérez Hernández (1905–1972), Mexican criminal
Raphaël Ibañez (born 1973), French rugby union footballer
Raphaël Jacquelin (born 1974), French golfer
Raphaël Lakafia(born 1988), French rugby union footballer
Raphaël Lévy, trading card game player
Raphaël Martinetti, Swiss businessman and President of the International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles
Raphaël Nadé (born 1980), Ivory Coast / French footballer
Raphaël Nadjari (born 1971), French-Israeli writer and film and television director
Raphaël Piolanti (born 1967), French hammer thrower
Raphaël Poirée (born 1974), French biathlete
Raphaël Poulain (born 1980), French rugby union footballer
Raphaël Pujazon (1918–2000), French athlete and Olympian
Raphaël Rouquier (born 1969), French mathematician
Raphaël Salem (1898–1963), Greek-Sephardic mathematician
Raphaël Schellenberger (born 1990), French politician
Raphaël Varane (born 1993), French footballer
Raphaël Wicky (born 1977), Swiss footballer

References

^ Robert William Rogers, ed., Cuneiform Parallels to the Old Testament (New York: Eaton & Mains; Cincinnati: Jennings & Graham, 1912), pp. 268-278. Web: http://www.fordham.edu/Halsall/ancient/1350lachish.asp
^ Evans, Cleveland Kent (6 April 2025). "For art lovers, Raphael having its own renaissance". omaha.com. Omaha World Herald. Retrieved 20 April 2025.
^ Kramer, Johannes. “A Linguistic Commentary on Heidelberg's Latin Papyrus Amulet.” Zeitschrift Für Papyrologie Und Epigraphik, vol. 74, 1988, pp. 267–72. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/20186927. Accessed 19 Aug. 2024.
^ "Senator Joker? Pinoy names tickle foreigners". GMA News Online. 30 March 2011. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
^ "Filipino Boy Baby Names". babynames.allparenting.com. Retrieved 20 November 2017.

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[1] Robert William Rogers, ed., Cuneiform Parallels to the Old Testament (New York: Eaton & Mains; Cincinnati: Jennings & Graham, 1912), pp. 268-278. Web: http://www.fordham.edu/Halsall/ancient/1350lachish.asp

[2] Evans, Cleveland Kent (6 April 2025). "For art lovers, Raphael having its own renaissance". omaha.com. Omaha World Herald. Retrieved 20 April 2025.

[3] Kramer, Johannes. “A Linguistic Commentary on Heidelberg's Latin Papyrus Amulet.” Zeitschrift Für Papyrologie Und Epigraphik, vol. 74, 1988, pp. 267–72. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/20186927. Accessed 19 Aug. 2024.

[4] "Senator Joker? Pinoy names tickle foreigners". GMA News Online. 30 March 2011. Retrieved 20 November 2017.

[5] "Filipino Boy Baby Names". babynames.allparenting.com. Retrieved 20 November 2017.

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