Rosa
Feminine · “Rose”
Rosa is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 177,415 girls against 1,173 boys since 1880. See Rosa as a boy name
The woman who would not give up her seat was a trained organiser and had been for twelve years. Rosa Parks was secretary of her local branch, had attended a workshop on desegregation that summer, had investigated sexual assaults on Black women for the association, and was not, as the story usually goes, simply a seamstress whose feet hurt.
How old is the name Rosa?
Rosa was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Rosa alive today was born around 1948, making them about 77 years old. About 94,000 people named Rosa are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Rosa most popular?
Rosa peaked in 1880, reaching #52 nationally. Today it ranks #652, 600 places below that high. See the whole 1880 chart.
Rosa appears on these lists:
- British invasion: UK favorites still rare in the US
- Scottish gems the US hasn't discovered
- Spanish and Latin names with warmth
- Dickens names
- Trailblazer names worth carrying
- Names that work in Spanish and English
- all guides
Works in Spanish & Latino families too:
Where it comes from
From rosa to Rosa
The story of Rosa
She corrected the account herself, repeatedly and in print. She wrote that the only tired she was, was tired of giving in, and she pointed out that a fifteen-year-old had been arrested for the same thing nine months earlier and that the organization had decided the girl was not the right test case. The bus boycott that followed her arrest was planned within days by people who had been preparing for exactly such a moment. Presenting her as a woman who spontaneously ran out of patience removes the decade of committee work, the legal strategy and the several thousand people who walked to work for a year, and she said so.
Meaningscholars disagree
Rose, or horse
The obvious reading is the Latin word for the flower, and that is how the name has been understood for centuries. Some of the medieval bearers, though, carry names built on a Germanic element hros, a horse, which produced Rosamund and Roswitha, and the two sources fell together early. Which is behind any particular family cannot be recovered.
How the name formed
- rosa
- Rosa
Related forms: Rosa · Rosa · Rosa · Roza
Pronouncing Rosa
ROH-zuh
Two syllables with the stress at the front. The s between vowels is voiced as a z in English, Italian and Spanish alike; Polish writes the z outright, which is the more honest spelling.
Nicknames for Rosa
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1880
- Most girls named
- 19242,148 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #52reached in 1880
- Change vs 2022
- −10.7%441 in 2025, from 494
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Rosa in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Rosa in Italian — same name
- Rosa in Spanish — same name
- Rosa in German — same name
- Roza in Polish — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New York. International figures from National Records of Scotland, Office for National Statistics. Sources
Rosas among us
people named Rosa are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 3,645 born in 2025 was named Rosa
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Rosa 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.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Rosa is headed
Rosa should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Rosa beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Rosa in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Spelled identically in Italian, Spanish and German and almost so in Polish.
- Four letters, no silent ones, and no possible ambiguity about how to say it.
- The meaning is concrete, pleasant and understood everywhere.
- The record carries it for boys in small numbers, so it is not quite an absolute signal.
- The flower reading is the assumed one and may not be the true one for a given family.
- It is strongly established as an older woman's name in American ears, though that is shifting.
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What they receive
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Rosa
Feminine · #652 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Rosas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 94,000 people named Rosa are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Rosa in 2025?
- Rosa ranks #652 among US girl names in 2025, with 441 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Rosa?
- About 1 in every 3,645 US girls born in 2025 was named Rosa — 441 in all.
- Will my child share the name Rosa with classmates?
- Rosa will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Rosa
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Alara#652 · Irene#651 · Eileen#654 · Gloria#654 · Andie#650 · Miranda#654 · Shelby#649 · Hana#657
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Rosa? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Rosa and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration; international figures from national statistics agencies. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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