Rafe

maleStatistical record

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

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

Rafe: Recorded every year since 1996, its highest recorded position is #210, and it stood at #247 in 2024.

3registrars recorded it
31times a registrar ranked it
29years from first to last
#210highest recorded position
8groupings it qualifies for

Region

Rising

among boys in England and Wales · 1996–2024

View as table

England and Wales · Boys rank by year
Year	Rank
1996	#1040
1997	#1174
1998	#1110
1999	#1505
2000	#1048
2001	#1078
2002	#781
2003	#633
2004	#667
2005	#891
2006	#631
2007	#711
2008	#684
2009	#641
2010	#584
2011	#588
2012	#484
2013	#342
2014	#367
2015	#281
2016	#297
2017	#312
2018	#328
2019	#372
2020	#269
2021	#213
2022	#210
2023	#228
2024	#247

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

RisingEngland and Wales · Boys

Recorded in official data among boys in England and Wales in every year from 1996 to 2024.

In 2024: #247 among boys in England and Wales, #352 among boys in Scotland.

Official data from 3 national registrars across 3 regions, 1996–2024 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1996
First recorded at #1040 among boys in England and Wales in 1996 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
England and Wales · Boys
Highest recorded1996–2024
Highest recorded position: #210 among boys in England and Wales, in 2022 (recorded 1996–2024).
England and Wales · Boys
Most recent2024
Most recently recorded at #247 among boys in England and Wales, in 2024.
England and Wales · Boys

Rafe by decade in England and Wales · 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 Rafe in England and Wales · Boys, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1990s	44	4 of 10	11
2000s	324	10 of 10	32
2010s	1,186	10 of 10	119
2020sbusiest	1,079	5 of 10	216

Across England and Wales · Boys, the 2020s were its busiest decade — the 5 years of it this list covers, averaging 216 births a year.

Its sharpest single-year move came between 2020 and 2021, when recorded births rose by 73, from 175 to 248.

See the names England and Waleshas recorded the most births with →

Rafe 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 1996 to 2024. Highest recorded position: #210 in England and Wales in 2022.

Rafe'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
2024	England and Wales	male	#247	199	High	Verified
2023	England and Wales	male	#228	214	High	Verified
2022	England and Wales	male	#210	243	High	Verified
2021	England and Wales	male	#213	248	High	Verified
2020	England and Wales	male	#269	175	High	Verified
2019	England and Wales	male	#372	118	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	male	#328	140	High	Verified
2017	England and Wales	male	#312	160	High	Verified
2016	England and Wales	male	#297	165	High	Verified
2015	England and Wales	male	#281	174	High	Verified
2014	England and Wales	male	#367	112	High	Verified
2013	England and Wales	male	#342	121	High	Verified
2012	England and Wales	male	#484	79	High	Verified
2011	England and Wales	male	#588	59	High	Verified
2010	England and Wales	male	#584	58	High	Verified
2009	England and Wales	male	#641	50	High	Verified
2008	England and Wales	male	#684	43	High	Verified
2007	England and Wales	male	#711	39	High	Verified
2006	England and Wales	male	#631	44	High	Verified
2005	England and Wales	male	#891	25	High	Verified
2004	England and Wales	male	#667	36	High	Verified
2003	England and Wales	male	#633	35	High	Verified
2002	England and Wales	male	#781	24	High	Verified
2001	England and Wales	male	#1078	14	High	Verified
2000	England and Wales	male	#1048	14	High	Verified
1999	England and Wales	male	#1505	8	High	Verified
1998	England and Wales	male	#1110	12	High	Verified
1997	England and Wales	male	#1174	11	High	Verified
1996	England and Wales	male	#1040	13	High	Verified
2022	Northern Ireland	male	#414	3	High	Verified
2024	Scotland	male	#352	10	High	Verified

England and Wales hub — collected by Office for National Statistics
Northern Ireland hub — collected by NISRA
Scotland hub — collected by National Records of Scotland

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

What the record shows

Recorded by 3 registrars between 1996 and 2024, ranked in 29 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #210, first reached in 2022.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 248 births, registered in England and Wales in 2021.

A second registrar first ranked it in 2022, and 28 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.

Rafal · #79, 49y
Rafay · #1367, 24y
Rafee · #2578, 11y
Raffael · #1935, 18y

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.

Christy · #210, 31y
Cadan · #209, 28y
Emre · #209, 33y
Fionnan · #211, 34y

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Records whose earliest ranking in Namewise's registrar data also falls between 1990 and 1999.

Christy · #210, 31y
Natan · #210, 27y
Bertie · #211, 30y
Cadan · #209, 28y

Rafe was ranked #210 in England and Wales · Boys in 2022. 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.

Rafe 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 Rafe without appearing here.

Rafe moved ahead of

Graeme Compare
In 1999 they stood at #1505 and #1281 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2000 that had become #1048 and #2501.
Keith Compare
In 2005 they stood at #891 and #827 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2006 that had become #631 and #1224.
Brent Compare
In 2001 they stood at #1078 and #1078 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2002 that had become #781 and #1322.
Ashleigh Compare
In 2000 they stood at #1048 and #881 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2001 that had become #1078 and #1595.

Moved ahead of Rafe

Cooper Compare
In 2006 they stood at #631 and #677 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2007 that had become #711 and #509.
Ollie Compare
In 1997 they stood at #1174 and #2022 in England and Wales · Boys; by 1998 that had become #1110 and #924.
Hudson Compare
In 2006 they stood at #631 and #885 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2007 that had become #711 and #538.
Arlo Compare
In 2004 they stood at #667 and #875 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2005 that had become #891 and #766.

Moved the opposite way to Rafe

Aaron Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Rafe went from #1040 to #247 while Aaron went from #33 to #154.
Adam Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Rafe went from #1040 to #247 while Adam went from #16 to #35.
Alan Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Rafe went from #1040 to #247 while Alan went from #163 to #592.
Alex Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Rafe went from #1040 to #247 while Alex went from #43 to #171.

Moved the same way as Rafe

Albie Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Rafe went from #1040 to #247 and Albie from #853 to #19.
Alfie Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Rafe went from #1040 to #247 and Alfie from #119 to #16.
Alfred Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Rafe went from #1040 to #247 and Alfred from #218 to #81.
Archie Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Rafe went from #1040 to #247 and Archie from #192 to #10.

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 1996 to 2024. Highest recorded position: #210 in England and Wales in 2022. Source data last verified 2026-07-21.

Rafe

Rafe at a glance

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Rafe by decade in England and Wales · Boys

Rafe appears in

Popularity data

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Names published alongside Rafe

Rafe and the names beside it

Rafe moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Rafe

Moved the opposite way to Rafe

Moved the same way as Rafe

Rafe at a glance

Rafe by decade in England and Wales · Boys

Rafe appears in

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Names published alongside Rafe

Rafe and the names beside it

Rafe moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Rafe

Moved the opposite way to Rafe

Moved the same way as Rafe