Raphael
Barely 400 Polish men carry it, so most Poles have never met one, but it's gaining ground: more boys got it last year than in most years past. It's the fuller form behind Rafał, from Hebrew for "God heals".
Raphael Pronunciation
What Raphael means
Where Raphael comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Raphael comes from Hebrew, where the verb for healing meets el, the word for God. The name reads as a short sentence: God heals. In the Book of Tobit the archangel Raphael walks beside young Tobias and cures an old man's blindness, and that account tied the name to the figure of a healer.
German and English families carried the name for centuries. That closing el returns in Michael and Gabriel, its companions among the archangels. Poland kept its own form, Rafał, which you still meet on a class register or an official form at the urząd. The two spellings sit side by side, one nearer the Hebrew, one worn smooth by Polish speech.
A boy named Raphael answers to a promise older than any single language. Bóg uzdrawia, God heals.
How many people are named Raphael
1 in 51561 men in Poland is named Raphael. 414 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #1458 among male names.
Raphael's popularity over time
5 boys were given the name in 2025, ranking #954 among newborns. It is making a comeback after a low in 2018.
Where Raphael is most popular
Raphael is most popular in Greater Poland, 402% above the national average (2 boys born 2019–2025), followed by Masovian (+205%).
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Greater Poland2 boys born+402%
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Masovian2 boys born+205%
Raphael as a middle name
Raphael is a first name for 414 men in Poland and a middle name for another 153, a 73/27 split. In the men's middle-name ranking it sits 564th, between Philipp (153) and Onufry (152).
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#562 Kristian154
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#563 Philipp153
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#564 Raphael153
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#565 Onufry152
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#566 Symeon152