boy's name
Raul
rah-OOL
- Origin Spanish
- Gender Boy
- Syllables 1
- Letters 4
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 90,055
the United States
#634
2025 births
Raul means wolf counsel, and it is the same name as Ralph and Rudolph — one Norse compound that entered Spanish, English and German separately and ended up looking like three different names. It holds 89,794 lifetime births in our records.
- Raul is a name of Spanish origin.
- Peaked in 1995, when 1,521 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 7,535 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1904.
- 1 syllable, with the stress on syllable 1.
Raul over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1900s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1900s | 35 |
| 1910s | 640 |
| 1920s | 2,854 |
| 1930s | 3,275 |
| 1940s | 4,526 |
| 1950s | 7,810 |
| 1960s | 8,572 |
| 1970s | 10,632 |
| 1980s | 12,242 |
| 1990s | 14,680 |
| 2000s | 13,440 |
| 2010s | 6,936 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 2,882 |
What Raul means
Raul means wolf counsel, or counsel of the wolf. The Norse joins a word for counsel or fame to one meaning a wolf, so both halves belong to the vocabulary of the war band.
Where Raul comes from
Raul is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the Old Norse Ráðúlfr — rað, counsel, joined to ulfr, a wolf. The Normans carried it into French as Raoul and thence to England as Ralph; German developed Rudolf from the parallel Hrodulf, fame-wolf. Wolves are the commonest animal in Germanic naming, appearing in Wolfgang, Adolf, Randolph and Beowulf, because the war band styled itself after them.
Raul in use
Raul peaked in the United States in 1995, when 1,521 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It now ranks 634th in the United States on 440 births, 1563rd in England and Wales on 17 and 2795th in France on 10, across 90,055 lifetime births in four of the seven markets we track. Our records carry it from 1900.
How popular is Raul?
In 2025, Raul was given to 440 babies in the United States, ranking #634 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Raul is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Raul
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Raul also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Raul over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Raul in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Raul
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Raul — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Raul
What does the name Raul mean?
Wolf counsel — the Norse rað, counsel, joined to ulfr, a wolf.
Is Raul the same as Ralph?
Yes. One Norse compound reached Spanish as Raul, French as Raoul and English as Ralph.
Why are wolves in so many Germanic names?
The war band styled itself after them — Wolfgang, Adolf, Randolph and Beowulf all carry one.
How popular is Raul?
634th in the United States, down from a 1995 peak of 1,521 births.
Is Raul a girl's or a boy's name?
Raul is given almost entirely to boys in birth records.
How many syllables are in Raul?
Raul has 1 syllable.
Is Raul a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Raul currently ranks #634 in the United States. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.