Rafe or Raife?

[Moonandstars124]

Me and my husband are due our 3rd son in August we both really like the name Rafe/Raife but unsure on which way to spell it?

please can you help which way would you spell it Rafe or Raife? And what are your thoughts on the name?

I’d definitely go with Raife. I’ve never heard of the name before, unusual/unique.

I don’t like the name. Reminds me of Riffraff.

I prefer the spelling Rafi

@PopThatBench it isn’t unusual, it’s the traditional pronunciation of “Ralph” eg Ralph Feinnes is pronounced “Raife” but a lot of people would just say “Ralf”. Guess it just depends on preference

Perhaps uncommon then rather than unusual. I’ve heard of lots of Ralphs and Ralphies but not a Raife.
I never knew that’s how Ralph used to be pronounced though, very interesting!

I would spell it Ralph too.

Raife, and what a beautiful name!

It's Ralph.

I've always thought that of Rafe as the posh/pretentious way of pronouncing Ralph, rather than the traditional way of pronouncing it.

I prefer Ralph pronounced Ralf to Rafe (that pronounciation however it's spelt).

Rafe.
But also consider Ralph.

As everyone else, it’s spelt Ralph, like Ralph Fiennes

well it isn't Ralph at all , it's Rafe or Raife ??!!

I have a friend with a son called Raif. Spelled like that I believe, without the e.

OP was simply asking about the spelling and not for general comments on the name !!! but that's Mumsnet ....!

Rafe

Raef

Rafe, but normally spelt Ralph!

The correct spelling is Ralph - the others are just phonetic/made up.

Honestly, if you can't spell it then don't give your child that name. Dear god please not Raef.... Rafe or Raiph is bad enough. You don't need a special spelling of a name you're already misspelling. 🙄

Yes, it's Ralph but then people will call him Ralph and not ..er...Rafe.

Rafe. As per others, Ralph is the correct name, but if you must go with a phonetic spelling then Rafe is the accepted one. I've never heard of Raif(e).

Rafe.

This. A phonetic spelling looks a bit thick sorry.

As you probably know, Rafe and Raife are versions of the same name with substantial historical use in England since the seventeenth century, although I think that Rafe may be more common/familiar now. Darkgreener, which tracks baby name trends in England and Wales, says that Raife was ranked 512 for baby boy names in 2023, while Rafe was 228. Ralph and Ralf (etymologically related but not pronounced the same way) were 98 and 1906 respectively.

Rafe runs the risk of being confused with various shortenings of Rafael, and so maybe pronounced more like Raffa or Raffy. Raife runs the risk of being confused with the Arabic Raïf (rah-EEF). Neither of these concerns would dissuade me much, though, and of your two choices I think I would choose Rafe.

I know of a Ralph (pronounced Rafe), or someone who spells it Rafe.

Raif is not one I’ve seen before.

The “correct” spelling is Ralph, which can be pronounced either Ralph or Rafe.

Rafe

I think Raif may be pronounced rah-eef. That's how I would think if I saw the name written like that (even if it doesn't have 2 dot on the i). I would spell it Raiph (closest to Ralph) or Raife or Rafe.

I’ve only ever known ‘Rafes’ spelled ‘Ralph’.

I’d assume Raif was from another country / culture.

This is the traditional spelling but nowadays it would confuse a lot of people. I expect that’s why Timothy Spall and his wife chose to name their son Rafe.