Explore the Family Name Raff

The meaning of Raff

1. German: nickname for a tall thin man, from Middle High German rave ‘lath’. 2. German: from a personal name, Raffo, as yet unexplained. 3. English and Scottish: variant of Ralph.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Raff in the United States?

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the popularity of the surname Raff has slightly decreased. In 2000, Raff was ranked 16,480th in popularity and by 2010 it had dropped to the 18,106th spot. This represents a change of -9.87%. The count of people with this surname also decreased from 1,606 in 2000 to 1,538 in 2010, resulting in a -4.23% change. The proportion per 100,000 people declined by 13.33%, going from 0.6 in 2000 to 0.52 in 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#16,480	#18,106	-9.87%
Count	1,606	1,538	-4.23%
Proportion per 100k	0.6	0.52	-13.33%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Raff

In terms of ethnicity, based on the Decennial U.S. Census, there have been some changes among those with the Raff surname between 2000 and 2010. The percentage of individuals identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander increased from 1.12% in 2000 to 2.02% in 2010, an increase of 80.36%. Those identifying as two or more races also saw an increase of 64.81%, rising from 1.62% in 2000 to 2.67% in 2010. However, the number of individuals identifying as White decreased from 93.71% in 2000 to 91.29% in 2010, a change of -2.58%. The proportion of those identifying as Black also shrunk slightly, from 2.18% in 2000 to 1.95% in 2010, representing a decrease of -10.55%. Data for those identifying as Hispanic or American Indian and Alaskan Native was suppressed in 2010 for privacy reasons.

	2000	2010	Change
White	93.71%	91.29%	-2.58%
Two or More Races	1.62%	2.67%	64.81%
Asian/Pacific Islander	1.12%	2.02%	80.36%
Black	2.18%	1.95%	-10.55%
Hispanic	1.06%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0.31%	0%	0%