How popular is the baby name Rafael in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Rafael.

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Popularity of the baby name Rafael


Posts that mention the name Rafael

Top Hebrew baby names in Israel, 5785

Flag of Israel
Flag of Israel

The country of Israel releases two sets of baby name rankings: one for the Gregorian year (e.g., 2024), the other for the Hebrew year.

I don’t usually post the Hebrew-year rankings, but I was intrigued by the latest set, which was released a couple of weeks before the end of 5785 (Oct. 2024 to Sep. 2025, roughly).

Below are Israel’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names — both overall and among Jewish residents specifically — for the Hebrew year 5785:

Girls names

Top girl names, all babiesTop girl names, Jewish babies
Avigail
Miriam
Libi
Tamar
Sara
Lia
Yael
Ella
Ayala
Noa		Avigail
Tamar
Libi
Yael
Sara
Ella
Noa
Lia
Ayala
Esther

Boy names

Top boy names, all babiesTop boy names, Jewish babies
Muhammad
Yosef
Adam
David
Lavie/Lavi
Ariel
Omar
Rafael
Uri
Yehuda		Lavie/Lavi
Ariel
David
Rafael
Uri
Yehuda
Eliya
Ari
Eitan
Micha’el

The news release suggested that Lavi, which means “lion” in Hebrew, became the most popular name for Jewish boys due to the influence of Israel’s Operation Am KeLavi (“a people like a lion”), which was launched against Iran in June of 2025. (The war lasted 12 days.)

Except…Lavi has been close to the top spot for several years now. It ranked #2 among Jewish boys in both 2023 and 2020, for instance. So did the headlines really push Lavi to #1, or would it have ended up there regardless?

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Flag of Israel (public domain)

Popular baby names in Croatia, 2024

Flag of Croatia
Flag of Croatia

Last year, the European country of Croatia welcomed 32,628 babies — 15,733 girls and 16,895 boys.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Mia and Luka, as usual.

Here are Croatia’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2024:

Girl names

  1. Mia, 377 baby girls
  2. Rita, 363
  3. Nika, 328
  4. Mila, 296
  5. Lucija, 292
  6. Ema, 290
  7. Marta, 286 (tie)
  8. Sara, 286 (tie)
  9. Eva, 219
  10. Dora, 212
  11. Lara, 210
  12. Iva, 207
  13. Elena, 201
  14. Ana, 195
  15. Klara, 191
  16. Laura, 181
  17. Petra, 180
  18. Marija, 174
  19. Tena, 161
  20. Vita, 158
  21. Lana, 153
  22. Hana, 152
  23. Lea, 148 (tie)
  24. Una, 148 (tie)
  25. Sofia, 147
  26. Franka, 143
  27. Cvita, 139 (tie)
  28. Ena, 139 (tie)
  29. Nora, 136
  30. Maša, 130
  31. Nikol, 126
  32. Leona, 125
  33. Lena, 123
  34. Maris, 116
  35. Magdalena, 113
  36. Iris, 108 (tie)
  37. Tia, 108 (tie)
  38. Lota, 106
  39. Tara, 105
  40. Karla, 104
  41. Emili, 102
  42. Roza, 101
  43. Mara, 100
  44. Aria, 99 (tie)
  45. Sofija, 99 (tie)
  46. Bruna, 95
  47. Aurora, 93
  48. Katja, 92
  49. Kiara, 91 (tie)
  50. Tea, 91 (tie)

Boy names

  1. Luka, 603 baby boys
  2. Jakov, 468
  3. Toma, 426
  4. David, 420
  5. Petar, 376
  6. Niko, 365
  7. Ivan, 359
  8. Mateo, 350
  9. Roko, 349
  10. Matej, 337
  11. Noa, 300
  12. Josip, 298
  13. Fran, 290
  14. Šimun, 274
  15. Teo, 273
  16. Lovro, 262
  17. Vito, 261
  18. Mihael, 240
  19. Borna, 236
  20. Karlo, 235
  21. Marko, 231
  22. Leon, 225
  23. Filip, 223
  24. Jan, 220
  25. Leo, 211
  26. Ante, 206
  27. Gabriel, 185
  28. Ivano, 181
  29. Viktor, 153
  30. Lukas, 151
  31. Bruno, 147 (tie)
  32. Oliver, 147 (tie)
  33. Adrian, 143 (tie)
  34. Noel, 143 (tie)
  35. Rafael, 140
  36. Tin, 126
  37. Dominik, 125 (3-way tie)
  38. Emanuel, 125 (3-way tie)
  39. Liam, 125 (3-way tie)
  40. Marin, 121
  41. Mauro, 117
  42. Nikola, 116
  43. Maro, 114
  44. Toni, 100
  45. Duje, 96
  46. Antonio, 81 (4-way tie)
  47. Franko, 81 (4-way tie)
  48. Jona, 81 (4-way tie)
  49. Lovre, 81 (4-way tie)
  50. Patrik, 78

In the girls’ top 50, Maris, Aria, and Kiara replaced Marla, Luce, and Lora.

In the boys’ top 50, Franko and Jona replaced Erik and Andrej.

I didn’t post about Croatia’s top baby names of 2023, but here are Croatia’s 2022 rankings.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Civil ensign of Croatia (public domain)

What gave the baby name Marianne a boost in 1957?

Terry Gilkyson and the Easy Riders' song "Marianne" (1957)
“Marianne” single

According to the U.S. baby name data, name Marianne nearly doubled in usage in 1957:

  • 1959: 1,915 baby girls named Marianne [rank: 186th]
  • 1958: 2,076 baby girls named Marianne [rank: 181st]
  • 1957: 3,021 baby girls named Marianne [rank: 139th]
  • 1956: 1,617 baby girls named Marianne [rank: 202nd]
  • 1955: 1,747 baby girls named Marianne [rank: 191st]

Why?

Because of the calypso song “Marianne,” which became popular during the first months of the year (during America’s short-lived “calypso craze,” which had been kicked off by Harry Belafonte’s mid-1956 album Calypso).

“Marianne” [vid] by folk music trio Terry Gilkyson and the Easy Riders was released during the final days of 1956. It was based on the calypso song “Mary Ann” (1946) by Trinidadian calypsonian Roaring Lion (birth name: Rafael de Leon), though its lyrics were substantially different.

During the months that followed, other artists (including Burl Ives) released their own recordings of “Marianne.” The most successful cover was that by The Hilltoppers, who performed the song live on The Steve Allen Show in late February.

In mid-March, the recordings of “Marianne” by the Easy Riders and the Hilltoppers peaked at #5 and #8 (respectively) on Billboard‘s Top 100 chart (a precursor to today’s Hot 100 chart).

What are your thoughts on the name Marianne?

Sources:

Popular baby names in Israel, 2024

Flag of Israel
Flag of Israel

In 2024, the Middle Eastern country of Israel welcomed around 181,000 babies.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Avigail and Mohammad, according to data released on the last day of the year by Israel’s Population and Immigration Authority.

Here are Israel’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2024:

Girls names

  1. Avigail, 1,156 baby girls
  2. Miriam/Mariam, 1,015
  3. Tamar, 841
  4. Sarah, 752
  5. Yael, 725
  6. Liya, 713
  7. Ayala, 712
  8. Libi, 685
  9. Ela, 640 (tie)
  10. No’a, 640 (tie)

Boy names

  1. Mohammad/Muhammad, 1,740 baby boys
  2. Yosef/Yousef, 1,201
  3. Adam, 1,196
  4. David, 1,062
  5. Ariel, 1,045
  6. Lavi, 967
  7. Omer, 870
  8. Rafa’el, 847
  9. Uri/Ori, 789
  10. Daniel, 764

The population of Israel is roughly 73% Jewish and 21% Arabic (as well as 6% “other”). The Arabic population includes Muslims, Christians, and Druzes.

Previous sets of Israeli baby name rankings included the top names within each of four groups — Jewish, Muslim, Christian, and Druze — but the 2024 news release only included rankings for the Jewish community. (The top names among Jews in Israel last year were Avigail and Ariel.)

That said, one source did mention that the usage of Muhammed has been on the decline: “One in eight Muslim boys in Israel bears the name of the founder of Islam, down from one in six two decades ago.”

I haven’t posted about Israel’s top baby names within the last few years, but here are Israel’s 2020 rankings.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Flag of Israel (public domain)