If I like Raphael, what else might I like?

[Toastypie]

Raphael (Rafe) is now the only name I think I like for little boy due next year. I'm slightly worried it's a bit OTT with our surname - one syllable very British surname.

But I love its angelic, European and arty connotations, and I love the nickname options - Rafe, Raffy etc.

Are there any other boy names that spring to mind? I find boy names impossible!

Fabian

Michelangelo?
Leonard?
Donatello?

And personally I think if your child's surname is going to be a plain one syllable British one, then he deserves a fancier first name.

Raphael Brown is much better than George Brown,

Rafe.
Pronounced like "Safe' but starting with "R' ofcourse.
(I am biased!)

Gabriel
Michael
Augustine
Leonardo
Leopold
Ignatius
Matteo
Conrad
Vincent
Dominic

Marius

We had Raphael on our list and went with Gabriel in the end. We also had Caspian, Ellis, Kasper, Kajus, Elijah and Evan.

Zach
Reuben

Diego
Carlos

Cassius
Isaiah

Jude
Sebastian
Julian
Xavier
Gabriel
Dante

Leviticus

Raphael is gorgeous. So is Gabriel. I also like Daniel, although that's been a bit over-used in the past.

Michael
Nathaniel
Gabriel
Samuel
Elijah

Raphael sounds perfect with your surname honestly!

Theodore
Gabriel
Benedict
Dominic
Vincent
Sebastian
Julian
Leander
Nathaniel
Zachary
Xavier

Thanks so much for these. So helpful. Cassius/ Cassian has also been on my list at times - I really like Cass for short.

I also quite like Jago but I guess that is wildly different from Raphael - I am Cornish so like the link.

Keep hoping I'll have a eureka moment, but maybe I need to be brave and go with Raphael, I can always introduce him as Rafe but with the longer version as his formal name.

If it was a girl I'd be struggling to narrow a list down, not create any kind of list at all!

Lots of great names here ... But Raphael is just lovely. I'd go with that @Toastypie You love it, it's lovely.

Angelo
Tobias
Lucian
Finbarr
Gabriel
Marco
Maurice
Casper

Micah
Daniel
Jeremy
Rowan

@VodselForDinner

Michelangelo? Leonard? Donatello?

Splinter Casey?

Ralph pronounced Rafe is in safe.

Love Raphael, but in my head it's spelled with an f (Rafael).

Alastair
Andreas
August
Casimir
Efraïm
Evander
Hugo
Kilian
Lionel
Matthias
Stefan
Stellan

I love Raphael and Rafe and I think you should follow your heart.

His name will be HIS name and it will suit him with his English surname!!

I did meet the most adorable Michelangelo once though.

(I also like Tristram, Tristan, Gabriel, Sebastian, Merlin, Felix, As a childminder I looked after boys with these names and really enjoyed them iyswim ☺️)

We had Rafael on our list and went with Leandro. We also really liked Mateo, Luca and Gabriel.

Thanks so much everyone. Especially for the encouragement to go with the name I love. It’s funny seeing so many of the names I’ve liked mentioned here as well. There must definitely be a vibe to them! Thanks again, really appreciate the input