Rosalia
A feminine name of Italian origin derived from the title of Our Lady of the Rosary.
Name Census estimates that about 7,470 living Americans carry the first name Rosalia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Rosalia today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rosalia births was 2023 (517 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rosalia. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Rosalia with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
7.5K
~ 1 in 45,884 Americans
Peak year
2023
517 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2024 SSA rank
#597
Tracked since 1880
Census
Rosalia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 13,542 people with the first name Rosalia, which placed it at #2,022 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#2,022
National first-name rank
People counted
14K
13,542 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
4.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
74.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rosalia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rosalia is Hispanic at 74.5%. The next largest groups are White (18.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (5.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Rosalia described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Rosalia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino74.5% · 10,094
- White18.0% · 2,442
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.3% · 721
- Black or African American1.0% · 134
- Two or more races0.8% · 103
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 48
Popularity
Rosalia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rosalia from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 2,354 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Rosalia by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Rosalia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Rosalias live
The SSA's state-level files cover 34 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Rosalia, while Rhode Island, South Carolina, Alabama recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 189 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Rosalia
Rosalia is a feminine given name that has its origins in the Latin language. It is derived from the Latin word "rosa," meaning rose, and the suffix "-lia," which is a diminutive form indicating smallness or endearment. The name literally translates to "little rose."
The name's popularity can be traced back to the early Christian era, when it was given to young girls as a symbol of purity, beauty, and devotion. It was particularly popular in regions with strong Christian traditions, such as Italy, Spain, and parts of Latin America.
One of the earliest documented uses of the name Rosalia dates back to the 12th century. Saint Rosalia, a Sicilian hermitess born in 1130, is credited with helping to end a plague that devastated Palermo in 1624. Her feast day is celebrated on September 4th, and she is revered as the patron saint of Palermo and protector against plagues and pestilence.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Rosalia. One of the earliest was Rosalia of Aragon (1262-1285), a princess of the Crown of Aragon and the wife of Philip III of France. Another famous Rosalia was Rosalia Lombardo (1918-1920), a Sicilian child whose remarkably well-preserved body became an attraction at the Capuchin Catacombs in Palermo.
In the realm of literature, Rosalia de Castro (1837-1885) was a prominent Galician poet and novelist, known for her works that explored the themes of nature, love, and the struggles of the Galician people. In the field of music, Rosalia Chladek (1905-1995) was an Austrian operatic soprano who performed leading roles in operas by composers such as Beethoven, Mozart, and Wagner.
Another notable figure with the name Rosalia was Rosalia Mera (1944-2013), the co-founder and former president of the Spanish fashion retailer Zara. She played a pivotal role in the success and growth of the Inditex Group, making it one of the world's largest fashion retailers.
While the name Rosalia has maintained its popularity in various parts of the world, particularly in Latin America and Europe, it has also been subject to variations and adaptations over time, reflecting cultural and linguistic influences.
People
Rosalia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rosalia as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with R
Other first names starting with R with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Rosalia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rosalia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 7,470 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rosalia going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 45,884 US residents.
Is Rosalia a common name?
We classify Rosalia as "Rare". It ranks above 97.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 10,181 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rosalia most popular?
The single biggest year for Rosalia was 2023, when 517 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rosalia is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rosalia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 13,542 people with the name Rosalia, or 4.48 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,022 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Rosalia in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Rosalia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rosalia appears almost entirely female. Of the 13,538 people counted with this name, 99.6% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Rosalia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rosalia is Hispanic at 74.5%. The next largest groups are White (18.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (5.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Rosalia most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Rosalia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 74.5% (10,094 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Rosalia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rosalia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rosalia in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Rosalia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rosalia in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Rosalia can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have the name Rosalia?
See how many people have the name Rosalia on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.