Behind the Name: Meaning, Origin and History of the Name Raphael

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RAPHAEL

GENDER: Masculine

USAGE: German, French, English, Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek

OTHER SCRIPTS: רָפָאֵל, רְפָאֵל (Ancient Hebrew), Ραφαηλ (Ancient Greek)

PRONOUNCED: ra-fa-EL (French), RAF-ee-el (English), RAY-fee-əl (English) [key]

Meaning & History

From the Hebrew name רָפָאֵל (Rafa'el) which meant "God has healed". In Hebrew tradition Raphael was the name of one of the seven archangels. He appears in the Old Testament in the Book of Tobit, where it is told how he aided Tobias. This name has never been common in the English-speaking world, though it has been well-used elsewhere in Europe. A famous bearer was the 16th-century Renaissance master Raphael Sanzio (usually known simply as Raphael).

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VARIANTS: Rafael, Raffael (German), Raphaël (French)

FEMININE FORMS: Raphaela, Raffaela (German), Raphaëlle (French)

OTHER LANGUAGES: Rafa'el (Biblical Hebrew), Rafaël, Raf (Dutch), Rafael (Hungarian), Raffaele, Raffaello (Italian), Rafael (Macedonian), Rafał (Polish), Rafael, Rafinha (Portuguese), Rafael (Slovene), Rafael, Rafa (Spanish)

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