Anyone with the last name Rafter out there?

Question

it would be a great help to give info on where your from!!!

Answer 1

UK answer.

I don't  know of anyone with the surname Rafter, but I did find this for you.

Surname: Rafter

This unusual surname recorded in the spellings of Rafter, Raftiss and Wrafter, is Irish. It seems to originate from the popular clan name of O'Raferty, as it seems that in the registers of County Mayo, the spellings are quite interchangeable upto this century. As few people before late Victorian times could do much more than write their name, and it probably did not greatly effect the small communities of those times. It seems that the name was never recorded as O' Rafter, which does perhaps suggest that the origin was not Gaelic but Norman, as the name is quite well recorded in England. However there are no satisfactory recordings proving the matter either way. The earliest known recording is probably that of Thomas Raghtor, a burgess of Kilkenny in 1518. In the census of Ireland in 1659 it is said that Rafter is one of the principle surnames of County Leix, whilst a James Rafter is listed as one of the principal citizens of Kilkenny. Finally in 1713, Ignatius Rafter given as being a "Catholic gentleman of Kilkenny City," had the extraordinary honour for those days, of being licenced to carry "a sword, a gun (?), and a case of pistols". He was literally a walking armoury, although as to why he needed all this protection, is unclear.

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

It is unlikely that you would find someone here with that name.

Do you have a genealogical question about Rafter?

Answer 3

Rafter  

Last name origin & meaning:

Irish: variant of Raftery.

Raftery    

Last name origin & meaning:

Irish: reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Reachtabhra ‘descendant of Reachtabhra’, from reacht ‘decree’.

There are 1,642 people in the U.S. with the last name Rafter.

Statistically the 17905th most popular last name.



Patrick "Pat" Michael Rafter (born 28 December 1972) is a retired Australian former World No. 1 tennis player.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Raf...

Answer 4

My best friend has a friend named Krista Rafter.....  Any relation?

Answer 5

http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/...

has 1,778 entries for the surname.