Given name
Rafer
“a wealthy man”
Rafer is used as a given name. One interpretation is “a wealthy man.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One interpretation is “a wealthy man.”
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1961. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Rafer through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 34
- 34 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 1961
- 8 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 5 in 1982. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for boys was 8 in 1961.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
The ring: nicknames and forms.
Nicknames & forms 1
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
People named Rafer
- Rafer JohnsonAmerican athlete and actor (1934–2020)
- Rafer AlstonAmerican basketball playerborn 1976
- Rafer WeigelAmerican television journalistborn 1969
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Rafer, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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85% boys · 15% girls