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Raffaela
How to Pronounce Raffaela
Pronounced raf-fah-EL-ah /ˌraf.faˈɛl.a/Medium
Meaning: Raffaela is an Italian feminine form of Raphael, from the Hebrew Rafa'el, 'God has healed' — the name of the archangel Raphael. A variant of Raffaella, it came to America with Italian immigrant families who honored the healing archangel.High
Popularity in the U.S. · SSA data
U.S. births per year (Social Security Administration, 1880–present). Pink marker = peak year.
SSA data updated May 2026. How we source & verify this data.
History & Origin
Raffaela is the Italian feminine of Raphael, the archangel whose Hebrew name Rafa'el means 'God has healed'. Borne in Italy in forms like Raffaella and Raffaela, it reached the United States with Italian Catholic immigrants and appears in the record from the late nineteenth century.
It stayed a modest heritage choice — a few dozen girls a year at most around its faint nineteen-twenties peak — though the spelling recurs in the record into recent decades. It reads as warmly Italian and, unlike many names here, could plausibly ride the current taste for Italian names, though it has not yet done so widely.
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Frequently Asked
What does the name Raffaela mean?
Raffaela is an Italian feminine form of Raphael, from Hebrew, meaning 'God has healed'.
How do you pronounce Raffaela?
It's said raf-fah-EL-ah /ˌraf.faˈɛl.a/ — four syllables, stress on the third.
Is Raffaela a boy or girl name?
Raffaela is used as a girl's name.
How popular is Raffaela?
Raffaela is rare, an Italian-American heritage name most seen from the early twentieth century onward.