Shem Tov Boy's nameOrigin: biblicalIn Israel: rising fast
RefaelIn Hebrew: רפאל · meaning, pronunciation and popularity in Israel
With vowel points: רְפָאֵלRomanization: rafa'el
Refael (Hebrew: רפאל) is a boy's name of biblical origin. 30,851 people born in Israel between 1949 and 2024 have it today, according to Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). In 2024 it was given to 1,352 boys and ranked #6. Its peak year was 2022, with 1,374 babies.
- People in Israel
- 30,851
- born 1949–2024
- Babies in 2024
- 1,352
- rank #6
- Peak year
- 2022
- 1,374 babies
- USA
- —
- not in the SSA list
Writing and saying Refael
In Hebrew letters the name is רפאל, read right to left. Refael is the Latin spelling recorded by our review; families choose their own spelling in passports, so you may also meet other forms. Wiktionary romanizes it as "rafa'el" (the accent marks the stressed syllable).
Meaning and origin
- Raphael (archangel)
- a male given name
From רָפָא (rāp̄ā, “he (has) cured”) + אֵל (ʾēl, “God”), literally “God has cured”.
Quoted from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), unchanged.
Refael by year in Israel
How many boys out of every 10,000 born each year have the name. For Israel it counts the people born that year who carry the name today (the CBS counts residents by year of birth, not birth registrations).
per 10,000 babies of the same sex
Related Israeli names
Spelling variants and names that look or sound close in Hebrew.
Questions about Refael
How do you write Refael in Hebrew?
Refael is written רפאל in Hebrew (with vowel points: רְפָאֵל). Hebrew is read right to left. A dictionary romanization is "rafa'el".
How many people in Israel are named Refael?
30,851 people born between 1949 and 2024 carry the name רפאל: 205 women and 30,646 men. The count comes from the CBS table of current first names by year of birth; years with fewer than 5 people are not published.
Is Refael a boy's or a girl's name?
In Israel it is almost always a boy's name: 99.3% of the people named רפאל are men.
What does the name Refael mean?
English Wiktionary describes it as: "Raphael (archangel)" Etymology: From רָפָא (rāp̄ā, “he (has) cured”) + אֵל (ʾēl, “God”), literally “God has cured”.
Sources
Israel: Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), current first names of people born 1949–2024 by sex, population group and year of birth, processed 2026-09-27. CBS publications.