Rafaela
The Hebrew root reads almost like a sentence: God has healed. It gives Rafael a feminine turn. Only about 200 Polish women carry it, so meeting one stays with you.
Rafaela Pronunciation
Rafaela is pronounced rah-fah-E-lah (/rafaˈɛla/).
What Rafaela means
Where Rafaela comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Rafaela begins in Hebrew, in the word Rafa'el, which reads almost as a sentence: God has healed. The masculine Rafael belongs to an archangel named in the Book of Tobit, the messenger sent to cure an old man's blindness. Rafaela turns that name toward a daughter.
The name settled deeply into Spanish. There Rafael and Rafaela have been ordinary for centuries, and the archangel is honoured as a patron of healing and of travelers. A Polish girl called Rafaela therefore wears a Spanish colouring over a Hebrew frame.
Name days for Rafał and Rafaela fall near the archangel's feast. On a class register the name stands out among the Zuzannas and Julias. Its meaning stays close to the surface: God has healed.
When Rafaela celebrates name day
Rafaela appears 2 times in the Polish name day calendar, never as a main name. The first of these dates is 6 January.
Rarer dates. Only the most complete calendars add this name on these days. Most skip them, so hardly anyone celebrates then.
How many people are named Rafaela
1 in 106843 women in Poland is named Rafaela. 211 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #2158 among female names.
Rafaela's popularity over time
Fewer than 2 girls were given the name in 2025. It has been falling steadily since 2000.
Rafaela as a middle name
Rafaela is a first name for 211 women in Poland and a middle name for another 174, a 55/45 split, almost evenly. In the women's middle-name ranking it sits 514th, between Ester (174) and Sofie (173).
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#512 Bella174
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#513 Ester174
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#514 Rafaela174
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#515 Sofie173
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#516 Letycja172