Head to head · Girls' names
Reese vs Rosalie
#192 vs #171 in 2025
Rosalie is a whisker ahead (#171 vs #192 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Rosalie is holding its place on the charts, Reese is stepping back from its peak.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Rosalie leads 6 measures of 6; Reese leads 0.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Reese —, Rosalie #297 — Rosalie higher
- 1890s: Reese —, Rosalie #302 — Rosalie higher
- 1900s: Reese —, Rosalie #262 — Rosalie higher
- 1910s: Reese —, Rosalie #215 — Rosalie higher
- 1920s: Reese #4434, Rosalie #185 — Rosalie higher
- 1930s: Reese —, Rosalie #169 — Rosalie higher
- 1940s: Reese —, Rosalie #190 — Rosalie higher
- 1950s: Reese #6245, Rosalie #333 — Rosalie higher
- 1960s: Reese —, Rosalie #527 — Rosalie higher
- 1970s: Reese —, Rosalie #833 — Rosalie higher
- 1980s: Reese —, Rosalie #940 — Rosalie higher
- 1990s: Reese #5903, Rosalie #1250 — Rosalie higher
- 2000s: Reese #355, Rosalie #1389 — Reese higher
- 2010s: Reese #156, Rosalie #337 — Reese higher
- 2020s: Reese #170, Rosalie #182 — Reese higher
Rosalie stood higher in 12 of 15 decades; Reese has held the lead since the 2000s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Reese | Rosalie |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #297 |
| 1890s | — | #302 |
| 1900s | — | #262 |
| 1910s | — | #215 |
| 1920s | #4434 | #185 |
| 1930s | — | #169 |
| 1940s | — | #190 |
| 1950s | #6245 | #333 |
| 1960s | — | #527 |
| 1970s | — | #833 |
| 1980s | — | #940 |
| 1990s | #5903 | #1250 |
| 2000s | #355 | #1389 |
| 2010s | #156 | #337 |
| 2020s | #170 | #182 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Reese
Not charting outside the US.
Rosalie
- Canada#63
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Reese
Ardor, enthusiasm; fiery zeal
The Welsh root rhys is usually glossed as ardor or enthusiasm, and often rendered in name books as "fiery" or "ardent".
Rhys → Rees → Reese
How it traveled
The name begins in Wales as Rhys, borne by princes of the medieval Welsh kingdoms and common enough among ordinary Welsh families that it hardened into surnames — Rees, Reese, Rice, and Preece, from ap Rhys, "son of Rhys". Those surnames crossed the Atlantic with Welsh emigrants and settled into American records, where Reese became the usual spelling.
Rosalie
rose
From Latin rosa, by way of the name Rosalia.
Rosa → Rosalia → Rosalie
How it traveled
The root is Latin rosa. Rosalia was both a Roman spring festival at which tombs were decorated with roses and, later, a personal name — borne by Saint Rosalia of Palermo, a twelfth-century hermit who became the city's patron and whose cult spread the name through Sicily and Italy.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Reese
REESS
One syllable, rhyming with peace. The final sound is a hissed s, not a z; the same pronunciation covers Reece, Rees and Welsh Rhys.
- Reesie — Affectionate home form, mostly used with young children.
- Ree — Informal clipping; rare, since the full name is already one syllable.
- Rhys — Not a nickname but the Welsh original — some families use it as the formal written form.
Rosalie
ROH-zuh-lee
Also commonly ROZ-uh-lee, with a short first vowel; both are accepted in American English. In French the stress moves to the end: roh-zah-LEE.
- Rosie — The everyday short form, used for centuries; also given as a name on its own.
- Rose — Formal-sounding shortening that stands fully as an independent given name.
- Rosa — Used where Italian, Spanish or German is spoken in the family; a full name elsewhere.
- Ro — Informal, mostly within families and among friends.
- Also Lee.
Who has carried each name
Reese
Reese Witherspoon (b. 1976) — Legally Blonde star turned Oscar winner and media mogul
Rosalie
No documented entry for Rosalie yet.
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Reese if you want…
- a name fewer children share#192 in 2025 — reese will almost certainly be the only one in school
- a name past its most crowded yearsReese is stepping back from its peak
- a name with fewer syllablesReese is 1 syllable to Rosalie's 3
- a newer arrivalReese entered the US charts in 1924
Choose Rosalie if you want…
- a name most people already know#171 in 2025, 1,797 babies that year
- a name on the way upup 27 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itRosalie runs 3 syllables, Reese 1
- plenty of nickname options5 recorded short forms — Rosie, Rose and Rosa
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Reese
Strengths
- One syllable, one clear sound — easy to say, easy to hear across a playground, and it needs no shortening.
- Instantly familiar to Americans as a word and a surname, so it is read correctly on sight even by people meeting it for the first time.
- A documented line back to medieval Welsh Rhys, which gives it real depth for families with Welsh roots.
To consider
- In the US, Reese is also the name of a very well-known peanut butter candy, spelled identically. Most children shrug it off, but expect the joke at some point.
- Four spellings compete — Reese, Reece, Rees, Rhys — so the name will often be spelled back to you wrong even when it is heard right.
- Most American Reeses are girls, so a boy called Reese may be assumed female on paperwork and rosters, even though the boys' line is the older one.
Rosalie
Strengths
- Meaning is settled and easy to say in one word: rose.
- Ready-made short forms — Rosie, Rose, Rosa — all of them long established, so nothing has to be invented.
- Recognizable across French, German, Italian, Spanish, Polish and Hungarian, with only small changes of spelling.
To consider
- It sits in a crowded neighborhood of similar names — Rosalyn, Rosalind, Rosalia, Rosalee — so expect occasional corrections, especially in writing and over the phone.
- Two pronunciations circulate, ROH-zuh-lee and ROZ-uh-lee. Neither is wrong, but you will be asked which one you use.
- Rosie is such a natural shortening that the full name may end up reserved for forms and formal introductions.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Reese
40%chance Reese feels dated by 2040
Reese sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
Rosalie
25%chance Rosalie feels dated by 2040
Rosalie peaked long ago yet still holds steady — names that survive their own wave usually settle into quiet, durable classics.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Reese and Rosalie in full.
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Decide together
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More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
- Borrowed from the boys: names girls are winning
- One-syllable names: said in a single beat
- Five-letter names, the comfortable middle
- Names with a double letter
- all guides
Where Reese and Rosalie each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Reese or Rosalie — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Reese or Rosalie?
- Rosalie, in 2025: Rosalie ranked #171 with 1,797 babies; Reese ranked #192 with 1,631 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Reese or Rosalie?
- Rosalie. Over the last five years Reese moved down 47 places; Rosalie moved up 27 places.
- Which is the older name, Reese or Rosalie?
- Reese entered the US charts in 1924; Rosalie was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Rosalie is the older name.
- How many people are named Reese and Rosalie?
- About 44,500 people named Reese are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 48,000 people named Rosalie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Reeses or Rosalies in the classroom?
- Reese will almost certainly be the only one in school. Rosalie will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025; international figures from national statistics agencies. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
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