Raphaël: the singer tells the particularly moving story behind his first name

The singer Raphaël, Raphaël Haroche by his full name, has a timeless first name which has been particularly trendy in France for several years. Thus, in 2022, it was the third most assigned male first name according to INSEE, and it should retain this good place in 2024 according to the projections of experts Claire Tabarly Perrin and Stéphanie Rapoport in The Official First Names. The first name Raphaël, however, was not as popular in 1975, the year of the artist’s birth, since it was only in 46th place in the ranking. So it was fashionable but not ultra trendy. However, this criterion does not seem to have mattered because it was for a completely different reason that his parents called him that.

The touching story of Raphaël’s first name

During an interview for the magazine Marie Claire, published in February 2024, Raphaël told the meaning of his full name. Thus, his first name means “God heals” or “God has healed”, while his last name, Haroche, means “the head”. “So in summary, my name is “God Heals the Head””, explained the singer. A very strong meaning, that his parents wanted after experiencing a tragedy. “This first name was not chosen by chance: my parents gave it to me after losing a child”, confided Mélanie Laurent’s companion. Before his birth, they had in fact welcomed a little boy who died at the age of 8 months.

A couple for many years, Raphaël and Mélanie Thierry are parents of three children. The youngest was born in spring 2024, and we do not know his first name. The couple, however, had announced those of their elders. The first, who will be 16 this year, has the first name Roman, which means “Roman” in Latin. As for their second son, who turns 11 in 2024, his name is Alyosha, the Russian diminutive of the first name. Alexis, which means “defense of humanity” in Greek.