The Raval surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 1,453 people carried this name — #18,835 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 204,100 people counted. That is up 57% from 925 in 2000.
What the name means
The meaning of the Raval surname
Indian surname of Punjabi origin, Arora and Sikh name from a clan name derived from ਰਾਵਾ (rāvā, “commander, king”) (from ਰਾਜਾ (rājā)), with the adjectival suffix [script needed] (-l).
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Raval» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.
In Switzerland’s population statistics
148 people named Raval live in Switzerland.
They live in 8 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Jura.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), «Surnames of the permanent resident population by canton», 2025, opendata.swiss/en/dataset/nachnamen-der-standigen-wohnbevolkerung-nach-kanton3 · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.
In Argentina’s national register
At least 128 people named Raval live in Argentina.
RENAPER only publishes a name in a province when more than ten people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Tucumán.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
RENAPER (National Registry of Persons, Argentina), surnames of residents by province, December 2021 — CC BY 4.0.
In France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 69 people named Raval.
9 of them were born outside France. Those born in France came from 11 départements, most often Meurthe-et-Moselle.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they were born
Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.
Who carried it
People named Raval,
with a public archive behind them.
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Sebastián Raval 1550–1604 · composer -
Harshida Raval 1901–2017 · singer
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Cesar C. Raval 1924–2017 · Catholic priest
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Dave Raval 1970– · politician
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Mehul S. Raval 1972– · engineer
Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (CC0).
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Raval.
When the index is not enough
This page says where Raval is.
A volume says what happened to it.
Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.