Head to head · Girls' names
Reina vs Rosalia
#582 vs #608 in 2025
Reina is ahead (#582 vs #608 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Reina is holding its place on the charts, Rosalia is back after a long quiet spell. On momentum, Rosalia has the edge.
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
The tape is even: Reina and Rosalia each lead 3 measures of 6.
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: Reina —, Rosalia #811 — Rosalia higher
- 1890s: Reina #1571, Rosalia #775 — Rosalia higher
- 1900s: Reina —, Rosalia #745 — Rosalia higher
- 1910s: Reina #3603, Rosalia #763 — Rosalia higher
- 1920s: Reina #3363, Rosalia #899 — Rosalia higher
- 1930s: Reina #2615, Rosalia #1165 — Rosalia higher
- 1940s: Reina #2684, Rosalia #1441 — Rosalia higher
- 1950s: Reina #2273, Rosalia #1484 — Rosalia higher
- 1960s: Reina #1829, Rosalia #1486 — Rosalia higher
- 1970s: Reina #1398, Rosalia #1520 — Reina higher
- 1980s: Reina #1105, Rosalia #1650 — Reina higher
- 1990s: Reina #966, Rosalia #1983 — Reina higher
- 2000s: Reina #912, Rosalia #2238 — Reina higher
- 2010s: Reina #880, Rosalia #1745 — Reina higher
- 2020s: Reina #600, Rosalia #627 — Reina higher
Rosalia stood higher in 9 of 15 decades; Reina has held the lead since the 1970s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Reina | Rosalia |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #811 |
| 1890s | #1571 | #775 |
| 1900s | — | #745 |
| 1910s | #3603 | #763 |
| 1920s | #3363 | #899 |
| 1930s | #2615 | #1165 |
| 1940s | #2684 | #1441 |
| 1950s | #2273 | #1484 |
| 1960s | #1829 | #1486 |
| 1970s | #1398 | #1520 |
| 1980s | #1105 | #1650 |
| 1990s | #966 | #1983 |
| 2000s | #912 | #2238 |
| 2010s | #880 | #1745 |
| 2020s | #600 | #627 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Reina
queen (Spanish)
In Spanish, reina is simply the everyday word for queen, from Latin regina — that reading is not in doubt. But the same spelling reaches English speakers by other roads. Reina (also spelled Rayna) is an established Yiddish name, and in Japanese Reina's meaning depends entirely on which kanji a family chooses, so no single translation covers it. Which meaning applies depends on which tradition the name came down through.
Regina → Reine → Reina
How it traveled
The Latin regina, queen, gave Romance languages their word and their name: Spanish reina, French reine, Italian and Latin Regina. Spanish is where the given name Reina is most at home, and Spanish-speaking families brought it into American records generations ago.
Rosalia
rose
From Latin rosa. The Romans also held a festival called the Rosalia, when graves were decorated with roses — the same word, put to a different use.
rosa (Latin) → Rosalia → Rosalía → Rosalie
How it traveled
The root is Latin rosa, and the form Rosalia belongs to the Latin-speaking Christian world rather than to classical Rome. Its spread owes most to Saint Rosalia of Palermo, a twelfth-century hermit whose relics were carried through the city during a plague in the 1620s; she became Palermo's patroness, and her name became one of the most-given in Sicily.
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
Reina
RAY-nah
RAY-nah in Spanish and in Japanese alike. Some English speakers reach for REE-nah on first sight, reading it as a cousin of Rena or Nina, so expect to correct that occasionally.
- Rei — The simplest clipping; also used on its own as a given name in Japanese.
- Reinita — Spanish diminutive, affectionate and family-level rather than official.
- Rey — Informal shortening in English-speaking settings; note that rey is the Spanish word for king.
- Nina — A playful household nickname drawn from the second syllable, not a formal short form.
Rosalia
roh-ZAH-lee-ah
That is the Italian-influenced pronunciation most often used in the US. Some families say roh-ZAY-lee-uh in English. The Spanish spelling Rosalía shifts the stress to the third syllable: roh-sah-LEE-ah.
- Rosie — The most common informal short form in English; also given as a name on its own.
- Rosa — Used as an everyday form and long established as an independent given name in Italian, Spanish and German.
- Lia — Taken from the end of the name; stands alone as a given name in Italy and Germany.
- Rose — A plainer English short form, easy for people who stumble over the full four syllables.
- Also Sali.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Reina if you want…
- a name most people already know#582 in 2025, 510 babies that year
- a name holding steadyReina is holding its place on the charts
- a name with fewer syllablesReina is 3 syllables to Rosalia's 4
- a newer arrivalReina entered the US charts in 1896
Choose Rosalia if you want…
- a name fewer children share#608 in 2025 — rosalia will almost certainly be the only one in school
- a name on the way upup 129 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itRosalia runs 4 syllables, Reina 3
- a long American recordRosalia was already in use when US records began in 1880
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
Reina
Strengths
- Four letters, two syllables, phonetic in Spanish — anyone who speaks the language reads and spells it at a glance.
- Works unchanged in Spanish, English and Japanese, with no adjustment needed when crossing between them.
- On record in the United States across many generations, so it is neither novel nor tied to one moment of fashion.
To consider
- Two live pronunciations, RAY-nah and REE-nah, and the wrong one is an easy first guess for English speakers. Most families settle it with a single friendly correction, but it repeats.
- Reyna is a common alternate spelling in the US, and Raina, Rayna and Rena all sit nearby. Expect forms and rosters to arrive spelled some other way now and then.
- To anyone who speaks Spanish, the name reads as the plain word "queen" — not a hidden etymology but an everyday noun. Some families love that transparency; others find it more declarative than they want.
Rosalia
Strengths
- The rose inside it is understood in nearly every language, so the meaning needs no explaining anywhere.
- Ready-made short forms in real use — Rosie, Rosa, Lia — without inventing anything.
- Works unchanged in Italian and near-unchanged in Spanish, French, Polish and Hungarian.
To consider
- There are two live pronunciations, roh-ZAH-lee-ah and roh-ZAY-lee-uh, and a child will hear both. Deciding which one your family uses early saves a lot of gentle correcting later.
- Rosalie, Rosalind and Rosalia are three different names that people mix up constantly, so expect the occasional misheard introduction and the accent mark asked about in Spanish-speaking contexts.
- Four syllables is a lot to carry in front of a long surname; the short forms do most of the daily work.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
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 Reina and Rosalia in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Reina and Rosalia?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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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
- Grandmother-chic: 1920s names ready to return
- Names ranked #601–1000: known, but barely shared
- The longest comebacks in the records
- all guides
Where Reina and Rosalia each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Reina or Rosalia — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Reina or Rosalia?
- Reina, in 2025: Reina ranked #582 with 510 babies; Rosalia ranked #608 with 481 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Reina or Rosalia?
- Rosalia. Over the last five years Reina moved up 9 places; Rosalia moved up 129 places.
- Which is the older name, Reina or Rosalia?
- Reina entered the US charts in 1896; Rosalia was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Rosalia is the older name.
- How many people are named Reina and Rosalia?
- About 13,500 people named Reina are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 8,200 people named Rosalia are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Reinas or Rosalias in the classroom?
- Reina will almost certainly be the only one in school. Rosalia will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
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