Roselle
Feminine · “Latin rosa”
Roselle is a hibiscus. Its calyxes make the drink that Egypt calls karkade, Mexico calls agua de Jamaica, Senegal calls bissap and the Caribbean calls sorrel. One plant, four names, and almost nobody who drinks it in one place knows about the others.
How old is the name Roselle?
Roselle first appears in US birth records in 1894 — 131 years ago. The typical Roselle alive today was born around 1943, making them about 82 years old. About 1,000 people named Roselle are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Roselle most popular?
Roselle peaked in 1919, reaching #1000 nationally. Today it ranks #9457, 8,457 places below that high. See the whole 1919 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From rosa to Roselle
The story of Roselle
Hibiscus sabdariffa is grown across the tropics for its fleshy red calyxes, which are dried and steeped to make a sharp crimson drink. In Egypt and Sudan it is karkade and is served hot or iced at weddings. In Mexico it is agua de Jamaica, sold from glass jars in every market, and the name records that the plant reached Mexico through the Caribbean. In Senegal and West Africa it is bissap, the national drink. In Jamaica and Trinidad it is sorrel and is made at Christmas with ginger and rum, though it has nothing to do with the European sorrel, which is a different plant entirely. In Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines it has other names again. The plant traveled with the Atlantic trade and was renamed at every stop, and the names now hide the fact that it is one species.
Meaningscholars disagree
Latin rosa, rose
Roselle is generally Rose with the French diminutive ending -elle, meaning little rose. Rosa is Latin for the flower, itself probably a borrowing from an eastern language. Roselle is also the English name of Hibiscus sabdariffa, a plant unrelated to roses, and a place name in Italy and New Jersey. The American peak of the given name is 1919.
How the name formed
- rosa
- Rose
- Roselle
Related forms: Roselle · Rosella · Rosella
Pronouncing Roselle
roh-ZEL
Two syllables, stress on the second. Roselle and Rosella differ by a syllable and are often confused. The plant name is said the same way.
Nicknames for Roselle
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
- 1894
- Most girls named
- 192349 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1000reached in 1919
- Change vs 2022
- −23.1%10 in 2025, from 13
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.
Roselle in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Roselle in French — same name
- Rosella in Italian — same name
- Rosella in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: California.
Roselles among us
people named Roselle are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 160,727 born in 2025 was named Roselle
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Roselle
- #9457
- Roselle on the 2025 chart
- #929
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Roselle went to 10 girls in 2025, but Roselee and Rozelle are the same name said out loud. Together the 3 spellings went to 31, which makes it the 929th most-given girls’ name of the year — 8,528 places above the chart.
- Roselee16
- Roselle10
- Rozelle5
About 1 girl in 51,847 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 160,727 for Roselle itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Everlena test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Roselle's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Everlena climbed just as high around 1901, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Everlena's path sketches the road Roselle is walking now.
Roselle 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
Roselle beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Roselle in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Rose and Rosie are both available as short forms.
- The stressed ending gives it a firm final beat.
- The flower connection is immediate and pleasant.
- It names a hibiscus, not a rose.
- Rosella is a commoner form in Italian.
- The 1919 peak places it a century ago.
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What they receive
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Roselle
Feminine · #9457 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Roselles are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,000 people named Roselle are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Roselle?
- Roselle is one of 3 recorded spellings. Roselee is the more common one — 16 births in 2025 against 10 for Roselle.
- How popular is the name Roselle in 2025?
- Roselle ranks #9457 among US girl names in 2025, with 10 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Roselle?
- About 1 in every 160,727 US girls born in 2025 was named Roselle — 10 in all.
- Will my child share the name Roselle with classmates?
- Roselle will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Roselle
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Leta#9457 · Inga#9457 · Delphia#9457 · Cammie#9457 · Lisandra#9457 · Amee#9457 · Venecia#9457 · Annetta#9457
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Roselle? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Roselle and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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