View Message

I tend to stress the last syllable. But I don't say "fee" in the middle. I say "fai" ("fye"? "fy"? However you'd spell that.)

---

I think the "a" could be like "cat" or "caught". It sounds right to me both ways. I could see either on a white, American child (but maybe the "cat" version is more probably for an American accent?) raf-ay-EL or rahf-ay-EL

---

Rafe is okay, but I'm not a huge fan. I definitely like the full name though.

---

I like both spellings but Raphael slightly more than Rafael. If I had to choose one to use on my kid, I'd go for the "ph" one. I think it looks just a little more balanced. It's longer and the letters are rounder. Rafael is shorter and more punctuated, with a pointy letter f in the middle.