Given name & surname
Rafferty
“a prosperous lady; wealthy”·“one who wields prosperity”
Rafferty is used as a given name and a surname. Interpretations include “a prosperous lady; wealthy” and “one who wields prosperity”. These may reflect different naming traditions.
Meaning & origin
What it means
Interpretations include “a prosperous lady; wealthy” and “one who wields prosperity”. These may reflect different naming traditions.
How it developed
From Irish Ó Rabhartaigh (“descendants of Rabhartach”).
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1987. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Rafferty through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 283
- 283 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 2024
- 19 babies
- 2025
- 14
- #6,360 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +58%
- Rising fast
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 14 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 6,360 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 58.0% higher in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 277 as a first name in 2020; 8,971 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Rafferty’s family of names
Rafferty has a related form in Rafartea. Rafferty has a related form in Rafartee. Rafferty has a related form in Rafartey.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 24
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 1
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
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