Thoughts on the name Rafferty?

[Csang]

I'm due to have a baby boy in a few months and we still can't find a name we both agree on. I love Raffie and Raphael is a lovley name but our kid is likely to be ginger, light skinned and freckly so Mediterranean Raphael vibes might seem a bit ridiculous! Raffie is also short for Rafferty which I'm not immediately drawn to. Any thoughts?!??!

I like it! I know 3 little Raffertys nn Raffy, and it really suits them!

I like it :)

I agree with you. I think it's awful, but if I met one I'd probably say 'how nice' or 'Rafferty? that's unusual'

I like it.

Raphael is a lovely name, and suits a red head perfectly well. Rafi is a good short version.

@KirstenBlest I'm not referring to the few people who've reacted like that, I'm not socially illiterate and would read a weak comment like that as unimpressed 😂 the vast majority of people we've told his name have been gushing and effusively complimentary. If they're lying then they're bloody good liars. Perhaps it's an age thing or the circles you run in because it doesn't stand out and is actively liked where I'm from.

Its a bit try hard and pretentious.

Incidentally @Csang the reason we chose it is for similar reasons, I loved Raphael but DH didn't and it was the Raff nickname/sound with compromise. And the Irish nod suits our quarter Irish, brown eyed, auburn haired boy down to the ground despite unnecessarily acerbic comments from people hiding behind internet anonymity.

You will never find a name that everyone likes, there's are so so many names I think are bland or horrible, you have to go for what you like.

@sunshinelollipopz , worry not, I'm convincing. It's a white lie.
It's ok as a surname. If you like it as a first name and are happy with it than that's what matters.

Surnames as first names don't seem to be a thing here.
There are Irish names around and a few Raphaels.

For a dog maybe, but not a human child.

I like it.
Rafael sounds dark but a Raphael doesn't have to be dark !

Sounds like a dogs name to me

Can I suggest that you don't? Incredibly strange to be effusive and gushing over something you don't like. Just... keep it neutral or don't say anything? Goes for literally any circumstance not this one in particular. Will never get my head around people who are intentionally deceptive. I don't like several of my friends' children's names and I just do a neutral comment or don't comment at all. Same goes if I don't like their outfit, their partner, their pet.

I love it. I’ve only ever taught one Rafferty and he was an absolute delight, so very positive associations for me! I also love Raphael, it suits my blonde haired, blue eyed nephew perfectly.

I love it.
I don't understand why Irish people here have against surnames as first names. It would not be the first first name turned surname, plenty of occurrences of that, including of non-irish surnames turned first name, like Novak Djokovic.

I love it and considered it for my son. He’s a teenager now and said he wouldn’t have liked it.

Love it and I know a cute button called Rafferty

I have a Rafferty (and a little Zoe) so obviously I love the name ❤️

@sunshinelollipopz , you can suggest it but I'll do what I like. Often a name might seem a bit out there but once you get your head round it it's fabulous.

Because it's a cultural name, embedded in our language Gaeilge. Taking it and turning a piece of our culture, especially from an occupying state is tone deaf culturally.

The reason I don't like some Irish surnames, eg Rafferty or Sullivan, as first names is just because they sound a bit odd when you're very used to them as a surname.

It's the same as using Smith or Jones as a first name in the UK - most people simply wouldn't do that. Why should they then choose an Irish name instead? I'd understand if it were a family name, but otherwise...no, I don't get it.

Plenty of other Irish surnames are actually originally derived from first names, so both the first name and surname are still in use. Cormac and McCormick, Conall and O'Connell for example.

So it's not true to say Irish people have a thing against surnames as first names per se. Lots of our surnames are first names too though spellings can vary a bit for a number of reasons.

I know, I'm Irish, I don't mind some of them but it can remind me of a newsagents or something.

There are worse choices though. But obviously English posters might not think Smith was quite right as a first name.

It might be heatstroke, but i just decided that Giraffe would work as a name, in a French accent.

I like Rufus and also Ralph.

I love it.
You should use it if you like it.