Raffael

  • [ RAH-fah-el ]
  • German
German variant of RAPHAEL.

RAPHAEL   male   German, French, English, Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek
From the Hebrew name רָפָאֵל (Rafa'el) which meant "God has healed". In Hebrew tradition Raphael was the name of one of the seven archangels. He appears in the Book of Tobit, in which he disguises himself as a man named Azarias and accompanies Tobias on his journey to Media, aiding him along the way. In the end he cures Tobias's father Tobit of his blindness. He is not mentioned in the New Testament, though tradition identifies him with the angel troubling the water in John 5:4.

This name has never been common in the English-speaking world, though it has been well-used elsewhere in Europe. A famous bearer was the 16th-century Renaissance master Raphael Sanzio (1483-1520), usually known simply as Raphael.
EQUIVALENTS
BIBLICAL GREEK: Raphael
BIBLICAL HEBREW: Rafa'el
BIBLICAL LATIN: Raphael
BIBLICAL: Raphael
DUTCH: Rafaël
ENGLISH: Raphael
FRENCH: Raphaël, Raphael
GERMAN: Rafael, Raphael
HUNGARIAN: Rafael
ITALIAN: Raffaele, Raffaello
MACEDONIAN: Rafael
POLISH: Rafał
PORTUGUESE: Rafael
SLOVENE: Rafael
SPANISH: Rafael
DIMINUTIVES AND SHORT FORMS
DUTCH: Raf
PORTUGUESE: Rafinha
SPANISH: Rafa
FEMININE FORMS
FRENCH: Raphaëlle
GERMAN: Raffaela, Raphaela
ITALIAN: Raffaella
MACEDONIAN: Rafaela
PORTUGUESE: Rafaela
SPANISH: Rafaela