Rosalia
Feminine · Latin roots · “rose”
Rosalia grows out of the Latin word for rose, and it has been at home in Sicily for centuries — Palermo keeps a July festival for Saint Rosalia, the hermit whose cult made the name a household one across the island. In English it moves in four unhurried syllables, roh-ZAH-lee-ah, with the familiar Rose sitting right at the front. It has been on American records since the earliest years such records exist, carried largely by Italian and Spanish-speaking families.
How old is the name Rosalia?
Rosalia was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Rosalia alive today was born around 1995, making them about 30 years old. About 8,200 people named Rosalia are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Rosalia most popular?
Rosalia peaked in 1881, reaching #539 nationally. Today it ranks #608, 69 places below that high. See the whole 1881 chart.
Where it comes from
From rosa (Latin) to Rosalia
The story of Rosalia
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. From there it traveled with Sicilian and southern Italian emigration to the Americas, which is why the name has always been strongest in the big immigrant-receiving states. In Spanish it took the accented shape Rosalía, in French Rosalie, in Polish Rozalia — the same name, differently stressed.
Meaning
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.
How the name formed
- rosaLatin
- Rosalia
- Rosalía
- Rosalie
Related forms: Rosalia · Rosalía · Rosalie · Rozalia · Rozália · Rosália
Pronouncing 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.
Nicknames for Rosalia
High
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
- 2022501 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #539reached in 1881
- Change vs 2022
- −4.0%481 in 2025, from 501
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.
Rosalia in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Rosalia in Italian — same name
- Rosalía in Spanish — spelling variant
- Rosalie in French — related form
- Rozalia in Polish — same name
- Rozália in Hungarian — same name
- Rosália in Portuguese — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New York.
Rosalias among us
people named Rosalia are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 3,342 born in 2025 was named Rosalia
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
Rosalia is on its second act. Revived names age gently: the generation that wore them first is far enough away that the name feels classic rather than dated.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Rosalia is headed
Rosalia looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 33% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds. Its history is short or jumpy, though, so read this as a sketch rather than a promise.
Low 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.
Rosalia beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Rosalia in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- 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.
- On American records from the very beginning of them, so it has never had to be revived from scratch.
- 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.
- A child with this name will very likely be the only one in her school, which some children love and some find tiring in the first week of every year.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Rosalia to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Rosalia? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Rosalia
Feminine · Latin roots · #608 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Rosalias are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 8,200 people named Rosalia are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Rosalia in 2025?
- Rosalia ranks #608 among US girl names in 2025, with 481 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Rosalia?
- About 1 in every 3,342 US girls born in 2025 was named Rosalia — 481 in all.
- Will my child share the name Rosalia with classmates?
- Rosalia will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Rosalia
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Brinley#608 · Flora#607 · Siena#610 · Loretta#606 · Leyla#611 · Halo#612 · Mylah#604 · Alejandra#604
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Rosalia? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Rosalia and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Or jump into a head-to-head
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle