Ralph

The British pronunciations of "Ralph" are curious in that either "Rafe" or "Ralph" (pronounced Rowlf) are used interchangably, apparently according to personal preference. In an excellent UK mystery series called "Charmer," one woman referred to the ladykiller character Ralph as "Rowlf," while another woman called him "Rafe." No explanation as to why the difference. One of those British eccentricities... no offense, please, I LOVE British eccentricities!
I have NEVER heard the name Ralph pronounced Rafe in the U.S. - and would say few Americans had ever heard the Rafe pronunciation before actor Ralph Feinnes became prominent. I tend to agree that if one prefers the Rafe pronunciation, why not spell it that way?

I'm not sure where people are getting the 'Britishest' way of pronouncing Ralf 'Rayf'. The majority of my fellow brits would pronounce this name the same as Americans, unless they are amazingly pretentious.

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I love the name Ralf but although I love Ralf Wiggum I'm not sure he's the type of person I would want someone to think of when they heard my child's name.