My son and husband love the name [name]Rafael[/name] for our 2nd son (I’ve posted all the other names we’re considering in another list on this forum). My brother says it would work in Spanish or French, but not so much in English. What do you think? [name]Rafael[/name] [name]Ferris[/name]??? Does it work? Thanks!
I think it works beautifully! I like [name]Raphael[/name] better though
I like it, regardless. Is your heritage Latin? [name]How[/name] do you pronounce it, short a or long a? I like it better with a long a and you could use the nickname, “[name]Rafe[/name].” Could you use that either way?
I say go for it!
I think [name]Rafael[/name] works in English, perhaps especially with the [name]Raphael[/name] spelling which I think is more common in English (like [name]Philip[/name] vs [name]Felipe[/name]). It’s in that same family of names with [name]Daniel[/name], [name]Gabriel[/name], [name]Michael[/name] (i.e. -el, for angels) that are so well known, just a tad more exotic. I think it’s really gorgeous and yet masculine and the nicknames [name]Ray[/name] and [name]Rafe[/name]/Raf(f) make it more accessible.
I really like it with your last name a lot, btw, the F sounds tie it together, 3-2 rhythm, it’s nice!
I also love the name [name]Raphael[/name], this spelling, and think it works just fine in English! It does sound nice with your last name, too.
i also would like to know how you’re pronouncing it.
I think it’s great. Go for it.
Wow - thanks for the feedback! I guess the consensus seems to be for the ph spelling. We’d pronounce the first a short (as in giraffe) and then the last a long as in ray. I love rafe as a nickname and HATE [name]Rafi[/name] - so will tell family NOT to call him that ever if we go ultimately with [name]Raphael[/name]. Two more quick questions:
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Any suggestions for a nice middle name that balances out the Latin/Hebrew element of [name]Raphael[/name] with something more Anglo/Scottish?
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And one more thing: the leading alternative now to [name]Raphael[/name] is [name]Nathaniel[/name]. We do already have a [name]Noah[/name]. Is that reason enough to do [name]Raphael[/name] since would it be weird to have 2 boys with N names?
I know quite a few [name]Rafael[/name]'s and I have seen both spellings. We have a very large Catholic Church so this is a common name to me. I think it is a wonderful name and I do love the NN [name]Rafe[/name], most of the boys I know with the name do not have a NN though.
What about [name]Rafael[/name] [name]Jack[/name], [name]Rafael[/name] [name]John[/name], [name]Rafael[/name] [name]Matthew[/name], [name]Rafael[/name] [name]Jacob[/name], [name]Rafael[/name] [name]Thomas[/name]?
I don’t think it would be weird to have 2 boys with N names, but I do prefer [name]Rafael[/name] either way. My top contenders for boys are [name]Dean[/name] and [name]Dominic[/name] and then there are no other D names on my list so it does not bother me at all to have 2 of the same letter and then stop 
We are considering [name_m]Rafael[/name_m] or [name_m]Raphael[/name_m] too. Nice to see the positive feedback, and I loved the suggestion of [name_u]Ray[/name_u] as a nickname, since [name_m]Raymond[/name_m] is a family name for me, but not one I would use.
This is one of my favourites, though I also prefer the “ph” spelling. I much prefer [name_m]Rafael[/name_m]/[name_m]Raphael[/name_m] to [name_m]Nathaniel[/name_m].
I wouldn’t use a nickname for it
I think [name_m]Raphael[/name_m] is a more “universal” spelling as [name_m]Rafael[/name_m] is indeed more common in countries with languages derived from Latin, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and even probably Romanian.