Rafe - will DS be teased / Is the name too posh ?

[NappyAndNice]

Please help!

So we like Rafe as a name for our DS.
I know others have suggested Raife as an alternative spelling.
And had the warning of Rafe being called R*pe.

Does anyone have the name, or have a child named Rafe or know someone. Has the name been negative? I know being teased can happen with any name, but is it worse with Rafe?

Then is it really a posh name? Does that matter?
We not posh and we dont live in a posh neighbourhood, so would it be out of place?

Thanks

If you’re not posh then I don’t think it will come across as posh, especially with that spelling. If you are posh and you spelled if Ralph then maybe people would think it was posh but in those circumstances would you care?

The only little Rafe I know of is certainly not posh, quite the opposite!

I think it would be fine OP. These days schools have a lot more children from different cultures which means a wider variety of names so unusual names are much less likely to lead to teasing.

Yes to what pps said. The UC name is Ralph pronounced Rafe. As in the irreproachably well-born Ralph Fiennes, whose full name is Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes.

Calling your child Rafe, spelled that way suggests (correctly) that no one in your environment would grasp that Ralph was to be pronounced Rafe.

Rafe is dead posh.

The original English-language form of the name IS Ralph, as PPs have said, but Rafe has a history going back to the 17th century. I England, both were typically pronounced "RAY'f". If you want that pronunciation, I wouldn't consider it controversial to use Rafe now. Not immediately relevant to the OP (sorry): Ralph is usually pronounced ralf in the USA (and is also a slang term meaning to vomit). I worked with a (British) Rafe when living in the USA and no one thought twice about saying his name; I doubt most people had any idea that it was connected to Ralph.

Rafe is a nice name. I prefer that spelling to Ralph and have never thought of the Rape connection.

Know one who is 13, parents are professional but not posh.
Go for it OP

Another similar option is Raphael/Rafa.

Love it, my first border collie was called Rafe after the farmer we bought him from😊

Oh dear, all i can think of is 'Rapey Rafe'......

My Rafe is only 18mo so no opportunities for teasing yet, but we get loads of compliments on his name. We purposely went with Rafe over Ralph because we aren't posh and Ralph felt oddly aspirational. I also just think it looks nicer and he won't have to explain it constantly!

I much prefer Ralph. Pronounced as Ralph! Works well in most European languages too.

Rafe is way too close to Rape. Not a nice sound

I tend to think of Ralph pronounced Rafe as faintly posh, but to me "creative" or "different" spellings are never really posh - like Elizabeth can sound posh, but Ilysabith never would be.

So if you like the Rafe spelling and you want to avoid posh, I think you've found your name!

That spelling has become more used of late, a bit like Nikko or Nyco for Nico.

A good friend of mine has a Rafe. They are not the slightest bit Posh. Well maybe a tad. Lovely name.

You must live a different life from most then.

Why?

The op asked for honest opinions!

I’m a teacher and have taught several Rafes, all
of whom have been badly behaved and unpleasant so I don’t like it for that reason. I also feel that it should be Ralph.

I knew of one at our baby group I think it's lovely

I’m a teacher and have never heard of Ralph being pronounced as Rafe.

I don’t think it’s posh. Ralph pronounced Rafe is posh.

Well, it is. The actor Ralph Fiennes or Ralph Vaughan Williams the composer are probably the best known examples, but it dates back to the Great Vowel Shift.

Exactly. Which is why the actor Ralph Fiennes (UC background) is 'Ralph pronounced Rafe' and the actor Rafe Spall (LMC background) is 'Rafe pronounced Rafe'.

Ralph is definitely pronounced "Rafe" if posh, Ralf if not posh, but that all works out the way OP hoped.

Rafi is super cute

oh no, hang on: The spelling Rafe is not posh, so what the op hopes.

But saying it as "Rafe" IS posh.

What about Rafi or Raffy OP - from Rafferty or Raphael. I don't think either of those are posh - more arty.

Ralph Fiennes is NOT posh. His dad was a farmer.

Whats this weird British obsession with ‚poshness‘ anyway?

Rafe is more like to get teased due it’s rhyming with Rape than its alleged poshness?!