MEANING & HISTORY
What does Raphael mean?
Raphael comes through Greek and Latin from Hebrew Rafa’el. The name combines a healing verb with El, God, giving God has healed or God heals.
The angel in the Book of Tobit is its principal biblical association. The root expresses a religious statement about healing rather than promising medical ability or health to a bearer.
References for this explanation
Pronunciation & syllables
Dictionary readings are kept by language. Select the reading that matches your intended pronunciation. Dots show the source’s written divisions; they are not a universal syllable count across languages.
English
- /ˈɹæf.eɪˌɛl/UK
- /ˈɹæf.eɪ.əl/UK
- /ˈɹæf.ɪ.əl/UK
- /ˌɹæf.aɪˈɛl/UK
- /ˌɹɑː-/UK
- /ˈɹɑː-/UK
- /ˌɹɑ.faɪˈɛl/US
- /ˌɹæf.aɪˈɛl/US
- /ˈɹæf.i.əl/US
- /ˈɹɑ.fi.əl/US
- /-eɪ-/US
- /ˈɹæf.ɛəl/certain Carolina accents
Wiktionary contributors / Kaikki / Wiktextract · CC BY-SA 4.0
Origin and name formation
Language-specific accounts from the dictionary. A shared spelling can have more than one history.
EnglishEtymology & source
From Latin Raphael, from Koine Greek Ῥᾱφᾱήλ (Rhāphāḗl), from Biblical Hebrew רָפָאֵל (Rāfāʾēl, literally “God cures/has healed”).
A male given name from Hebrew.
Wiktionary: Raphael (English) ↗ · Contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0
Adapted from Wiktionary contributors via Kaikki/Wiktextract. Source accounts remain in their original English; editorial summaries and filters are adapted. Attribution and downloads
People with the name Raphael
Public figures and other documented namesakes linked by an explicit given-name claim. This is a selection of records, not a popularity ranking.
DOCUMENTED NAMESAKE
Raphael Matthew Chua
Filipino swimmer
The record establishes the name association, not the person’s intended meaning, pronunciation or ancestry. Descriptions are attributed to Wikidata contributors (CC0).
Use in Philippine-linked records
Public-record transcription
1
eligible source records · 2001
This spelling is reported in an openly licensed transcription of elected-candidate records. This is a record count, not a birth count or national popularity measure.
OpenHalalan / COMELEC ↗Wikidata
2
distinct person records with an explicit given-name claim
Community-edited coverage, not a census or birth registry. Examples: Raphael Matthew Chua, VloggerRaphael
PSA · OFFICIAL BIRTH RECORDS
Raphael in the birth records
Exact spelling and stated year in the published name tables. Read the counts as individual snapshots.
Tables included: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024. The 2016 fact sheet lists five names per sex; the later tables include ten. Missing counts are not inferred. Sex categories follow the official tables, independently of dictionary gender labels. Explore the official tables →
Similar names to Raphael
Names with a similar opening or ending, ordered by spelling distance. Similar spelling does not imply the same meaning or origin.
Names in this collection
- Rachel♀Ewe; a female sheep
- Rafael♂God has healed
- Raphaelle♀God heals, through the Raphaëlle name family
- Michael♂Who is like God?
- Racquel♀Variant of Raquel, from Rachel: ewe
- Radha♀Success or prosperity in Sanskrit
- Rael♂Shortened Israel in the Cebuano account
- Rafaela♀God heals; feminine of Raphael
What rhymes with Raphael?
No dictionary-confirmed rhyme match is available for this spelling in the current catalogue.
Names with a similar written ending
Spelling suggestions; these are not verified phonetic rhymes.
Explore Raphael further
Follow the sources
- OpenHalalan — pinned 2001 COMELEC transcription (opens in a new tab)
Source-reported given-name form in a row with a separate explicit middle initial; ODbL-1.0.
- COMELEC — 2001 List of Elected Candidates (opens in a new tab)
Original document identified by the transcription; selected PDF entries were spot-checked, not every imported row.
- Wikidata given-name item Q354507 — Raphael (opens in a new tab)
Given-name identity, native labels, language associations and explicit class where present; not lexical meaning or population frequency.
- Wikidata — Raphael Matthew Chua (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name claim P735 linking to Q354507 and citizenship claim P27 linking to Philippines Q928; community-edited evidence, not a civil-registry record.
- Wikidata — VloggerRaphael (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name claim P735 linking to Q354507 and citizenship claim P27 linking to Philippines Q928; community-edited evidence, not a civil-registry record.
- Wiktionary contributors — Raphael (English) (opens in a new tab)
Language-specific given-name etymology; shared spelling does not prove every bearer has this origin.
- Wiktionary: Raphael (opens in a new tab)
Personal-name formation and etymological relationships; imported dictionary account consulted.