Rafal

maleStatistical record

What official birth registration shows about Rafal: which national registrars published it, in which years, and how its recorded position changed.

No researched meaning, origin or pronunciation yet — what that means.

Rafal: Recorded since 1968, it reached #79 in 1975, and it stood at #4,107 in 2023.

3registrars recorded it
55times a registrar ranked it
56years from first to last
#79highest recorded position
19groupings it qualifies for

Region

Falling

among boys in England and Wales · 2005–2023

View as table

England and Wales · Boys rank by year
Year	Rank
2005	#3208
2006	#2538
2007	#1756
2008	#1343
2009	#1175
2010	#1911
2011	#1909
2012	#2270
2013	#2055
2014	#2248
2015	#2483
2016	#2804
2017	#2324
2018	#2445
2019	#3013
2020	#3848
2021	#2730
2022	#4001
2023	#4107

VerifiedSource: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales.Confidence: high.

See all England and Wales names · Source: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales

What the data shows

FallingEngland and Wales · Boys

Recorded in official data among boys in Norway in 30 of the 33 years from 1968 to 2000.

In 2018: #749 among boys in Republic of Ireland, #2445 among boys in England and Wales.

Official data from 3 national registrars across 3 regions, 1968–2023 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1968
First recorded at #514 among boys in Norway in 1968 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
Norway · Boys
Highest recorded1968–2000
Highest recorded position: #79 among boys in Norway, in 1975 (recorded 1968–2000).
Norway · Boys
Most recent2023
Most recently recorded at #4107 among boys in England and Wales, in 2023.
England and Wales · Boys

Rafal appears in 3 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is Norway · Boys, which has ranked it in 30 years beginning in 1968, and has registered 1,351 births with the name.

Rafal across 3 official records

Each registrar publishes its own list, so these figures are read down a row, never across one. A position in one country is not comparable with a position in another, and Namewise never combines them into a single ranking. The birth counts do not compare across rows either, for a different reason: England and Wales registers roughly thirty times as many births a year as Northern Ireland, so a larger total says which registrar recorded it as much as how widely the name was given.

Rafal's first, highest and most recent recorded position in each official list, with the number of births each registrar registered with the name and its largest single year
Published list	First recorded	Highest	Most recent	Years recorded	Births registered	Most in one year
Norway · Boys	#514 (1968)	#79 (1975)	#567 (2000)	30 of 33	1,351 (1968–2000)	107 (1975)
England and Wales · Boys	#3208 (2005)	#1175 (2009)	#4107 (2023)	19 of 19	166 (2005–2023)	21 (2009)
Republic of Ireland · Boys	#529 (2008)	#490 (2011)	#749 (2018)	6 of 11	24 (2008–2018)	6 (2011)

Rafal by decade in Norway · Boys

Births registered with the name in each decade of this one list, with the number of years the list covers in that decade. Bars are scaled on births a year, which is the figure that compares between decades — a decade the list only partly covers has a smaller total without being a quieter decade. Figures belong to this registrar alone and do not carry to another.

Births registered with Rafal in Norway · Boys, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1960s	11	2 of 10	6
1970s	613	10 of 10	61
1980sbusiest	627	10 of 10	63
1990s	96	7 of 10	14
2000s	4	1 of 10	4

Across Norway · Boys, the 1980s were its busiest decade, averaging 63 births a year.

Its sharpest single-year move came between 1974 and 1975, when recorded births rose by 54, from 53 to 107.

See the names Norwayhas recorded the most births with →

Rafal appears in

Groupings this name qualifies for under their own stated rules, from the same official statistics shown above.

Popularity data

Official popularity data is available for 3 regions, from 1968 to 2023. Highest recorded position: #79 in Norway in 1975.

Rafal's recorded popularity observations by year, region and administrative category, including rank, registered births, source confidence and when each region's data was last reviewed.
Year	Region	Category	Rank	Births registered	Confidence	Status
2023	England and Wales	male	#4107	4	High	Verified
2022	England and Wales	male	#4001	4	High	Verified
2021	England and Wales	male	#2730	7	High	Verified
2020	England and Wales	male	#3848	4	High	Verified
2019	England and Wales	male	#3013	6	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	male	#2445	8	High	Verified
2017	England and Wales	male	#2324	9	High	Verified
2016	England and Wales	male	#2804	7	High	Verified
2015	England and Wales	male	#2483	8	High	Verified
2014	England and Wales	male	#2248	9	High	Verified
2013	England and Wales	male	#2055	10	High	Verified
2012	England and Wales	male	#2270	9	High	Verified
2011	England and Wales	male	#1909	11	High	Verified
2010	England and Wales	male	#1911	11	High	Verified
2009	England and Wales	male	#1175	21	High	Verified
2008	England and Wales	male	#1343	17	High	Verified
2007	England and Wales	male	#1756	11	High	Verified
2006	England and Wales	male	#2538	6	High	Verified
2005	England and Wales	male	#3208	4	High	Verified
2000	Norway	male	#567	4	High	Verified
1998	Norway	male	#585	4	High	Verified
1995	Norway	male	#467	7	High	Verified
1994	Norway	male	#321	13	High	Verified
1993	Norway	male	#327	13	High	Verified
1992	Norway	male	#299	16	High	Verified
1991	Norway	male	#283	18	High	Verified
1990	Norway	male	#228	25	High	Verified
1989	Norway	male	#188	35	High	Verified
1988	Norway	male	#138	58	High	Verified
1987	Norway	male	#154	49	High	Verified
1986	Norway	male	#145	54	High	Verified
1985	Norway	male	#140	55	High	Verified
1984	Norway	male	#121	67	High	Verified
1983	Norway	male	#110	79	High	Verified
1982	Norway	male	#108	76	High	Verified
1981	Norway	male	#108	74	High	Verified
1980	Norway	male	#105	80	High	Verified
1979	Norway	male	#98	84	High	Verified
1978	Norway	male	#100	80	High	Verified
1977	Norway	male	#96	82	High	Verified
1976	Norway	male	#97	83	High	Verified
1975	Norway	male	#79	107	High	Verified
1974	Norway	male	#146	53	High	Verified
1973	Norway	male	#151	52	High	Verified
1972	Norway	male	#216	28	High	Verified
1971	Norway	male	#210	27	High	Verified
1970	Norway	male	#268	17	High	Verified
1969	Norway	male	#488	6	High	Verified
1968	Norway	male	#514	5	High	Verified
2018	Republic of Ireland	male	#749	3	High	Verified
2015	Republic of Ireland	male	#699	3	High	Verified
2013	Republic of Ireland	male	#605	4	High	Verified
2011	Republic of Ireland	male	#490	6	High	Verified
2009	Republic of Ireland	male	#701	3	High	Verified
2008	Republic of Ireland	male	#529	5	High	Verified

England and Wales hub — collected by Office for National Statistics
Norway hub — collected by Statistics Norway (SSB)
Republic of Ireland hub — collected by CSO Ireland

See methodology and data sources for how popularity data is collected and what "confidence" means.

What the record shows

Recorded by 3 registrars between 1968 and 2023, ranked in 49 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #79, first reached in 1975.

It held a top-100 place in 5 years, 5 of them consecutive.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 107 births, registered in Norway in 1975.

Its record falls into 4 separate stretches, with a longest absence of 4 years.

A second registrar first ranked it in 2005, and 40 years separate the first registrar to record it from the last.

Every figure here is counted from the seven official registrars Namewise holds. A position is only ever a place within the list that published it, and a record that thins or stops is a fact about what registrars printed — never about how many children received the name.

Where to go next

Records with a comparable body of evidence, so the catalogue can be read outward from this one. Each group states the rule it was selected by.

Next in the catalogue

The records either side of this one alphabetically.

Rafaela · #871, 25y
Rafaella · #1774, 24y
Rafay · #1367, 24y
Rafe · #210, 29y

A comparable record

Records held by the same 3 registrars, over a similar number of ranked years, whose highest position is closest to this one. A similar body of evidence — never a claim that the names themselves are alike.

Ashling · #76, 53y
Rossa · #76, 48y
Reginald · #85, 48y
Sian · #72, 44y

Also first recorded in the 1960s

Records whose earliest ranking in Namewise's registrar data also falls between 1960 and 1969.

Duncan · #79, 49y
Daragh · #80, 62y
Dolores · #80, 56y
Imelda · #80, 53y

Rafal was ranked #79 in Norway · Boys in 1975. These are the names immediately either side of it on that published list — a fact about the registrar's own output, not a similarity judgement.

Rafal and the names beside it

Two names in the same published list are measured on the same scale, in the same year, by the same registrar — so these are positions that genuinely passed each other, not a similarity judgement. Drawn from the 2,573 names with a recorded popularity standing (common, familiar, uncommon), so a name outside that set could have passed Rafal without appearing here.

Rafal moved ahead of

Nils Compare
In 2015 they stood at #2483 and #2319 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2016 that had become #2804 and #4810.
Garry Compare
In 2022 they stood at #4001 and #3048 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2023 that had become #4107 and #4991.
Glenn Compare
In 2022 they stood at #2730 and #2730 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2023 that had become #4107 and #4991.
Maddison Compare
In 2005 they stood at #3208 and #3208 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2006 that had become #2538 and #3385.

Moved ahead of Rafal

Matheo Compare
In 2021 they stood at #2730 and #3017 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2022 that had become #4001 and #2018.
Jade Compare
In 2022 they stood at #2730 and #4789 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2023 that had become #4107 and #2813.
Arne Compare
In 2019 they stood at #3013 and #3937 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2020 that had become #3848 and #2960.
Gunnar Compare
In 2017 they stood at #2324 and #3040 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2018 that had become #2445 and #1786.

Moved the opposite way to Rafal

Tobias Compare
Between 1971 and 2000 in Norway · Boys, Rafal went from #210 to #567 while Tobias went from #535 to #10.
Leo Compare
Between 1972 and 2000 in Norway · Boys, Rafal went from #216 to #567 while Leo went from #601 to #192.
Phillip Compare
Between 1972 and 2000 in Norway · Boys, Rafal went from #216 to #567 while Phillip went from #611 to #254.
Kasper Compare
Between 1973 and 2000 in Norway · Boys, Rafal went from #151 to #567 while Kasper went from #549 to #83.

What's not yet available

Meaning
Origin
Pronunciation
Nicknames and spelling variants

Absence from this list does not mean the name isn't genuinely meaningful or widely used — only that Namewise hasn't sourced and reviewed that content yet. Absence from a specific year or geography above does not prove zero use there either; official statistics only publish names above a minimum threshold.

Official popularity data is available for 3 regions, from 1968 to 2023. Highest recorded position: #79 in Norway in 1975. Source data last verified 2026-07-25.

Rafal

Rafal at a glance

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Rafal across 3 official records

Rafal by decade in Norway · Boys

Rafal appears in

Popularity data

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1960s

Names published alongside Rafal

Rafal and the names beside it

Rafal moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Rafal

Moved the opposite way to Rafal

Rafal at a glance

Rafal across 3 official records

Rafal by decade in Norway · Boys

Rafal appears in

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1960s

Names published alongside Rafal

Rafal and the names beside it

Rafal moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Rafal

Moved the opposite way to Rafal