Given name & surname
Raf
“a tough man”
Raf is a variant of Rafe. One Irish interpretation is “a tough man.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
Raf is a variant of Rafe. One Irish interpretation is “a tough man.”
Explained through its name family
Where it comes from
Raf is a variant of Rafe. An origin associated with Rafe is Irish.
Explained through its name family
How it developed
In English usage, Raf is a diminutive of Rafael.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 2024. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Raf through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 10
- 10 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 2024
- 5 babies
- 2025
- 5
- #13,427 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 5 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 13,427 among boys’ names. The recent annual counts are too incomplete to establish a ten-year comparison.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Raf’s family of names
In English usage, Raf is a diminutive of Rafael. Raf has a related form in Rafe. In English usage, Raf is a shortened form of Rafael.
Inner ring: spellings · outer: nicknames and forms.
Nicknames & forms 2
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
See also 1
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Raf
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.