Rosary
A feminine name derived from the Latin word for a garland of roses.
Name Census estimates that about 317 living Americans carry the first name Rosary. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Rosary today is around 51 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rosary births was 1943 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rosary. 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.
People living today
317
~ 1 in 1,081,244 Americans
Peak year
1943
18 babies that year
Average age
51
years old
2024 SSA rank
#17,138
Tracked since 1917
Census
Rosary in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 539 people with the first name Rosary, which placed it at #19,554 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
#19,554
National first-name rank
People counted
539
539 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
45.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rosary
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rosary is White at 45.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (31.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (17.6%). 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 Rosary 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 Rosary at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White45.8% · 247
- Hispanic or Latino31.5% · 170
- Asian and Pacific Islander17.6% · 95
- Black or African American2.8% · 15
- Two or more races1.9% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 2
Popularity
Rosary: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rosary from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 117 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1940s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Rosary 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 Rosary during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Rosarys live
Origin
Meaning and history of Rosary
The name Rosary originates from the Latin word "rosarium," which means "rose garden" or "garland of roses." The name is closely associated with the Catholic devotional practice of reciting prayers, known as the Rosary, using a string of beads to count the prayers. The Rosary itself is named after the symbolic rose, which represents the Virgin Mary.
The name Rosary gained popularity in the Middle Ages, particularly in Catholic regions of Europe, as a symbol of devotion to the Virgin Mary and the practice of reciting the Rosary prayers. It was commonly given to children, especially girls, as a way to honor the Virgin Mary and the Catholic faith.
One of the earliest historical references to the name Rosary can be found in the 13th-century text "Mariale," written by the Dominican friar Blessed Alan de la Roche, who promoted the Rosary devotion. The text mentions the name Rosary in connection with the practice of reciting the Rosary prayers.
Some notable historical figures named Rosary include Blessed Rosario Livatino (1919-1990), an Italian judge who was beatified by the Catholic Church for his martyrdom. Another is Rosario Castellanos (1925-1974), a renowned Mexican poet, essayist, and novelist who explored themes of feminism and indigenous culture.
Other famous individuals with the name Rosary include Rosario Dawson (born 1979), an American actress known for her roles in films such as "Rent" and "Sin City"; Rosario Murillo (born 1951), the Vice President of Nicaragua and wife of President Daniel Ortega; and Rosario Candelas (1908-1985), a Spanish flamenco dancer and actress.
The name Rosary has also been used in various literary works, such as the play "The Rose Tattoo" by Tennessee Williams, which features a character named Rosario delle Rose, reflecting the connection between the name and the symbol of the rose.
People
Rosary + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rosary 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
Rosary: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rosary?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 317 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rosary 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 1,081,244 US residents.
Is Rosary a common name?
We classify Rosary as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 574 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rosary most popular?
The single biggest year for Rosary was 1943, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rosary is about 51 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rosary in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 539 people with the name Rosary, or 0.18 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #19,554 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 Rosary 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 Rosary?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rosary leans strongly female. 529 people counted with this name were female (98.7%), compared with 7 male bearers (1.3%). 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 Rosary?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rosary is White at 45.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (31.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (17.6%). 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 Rosary most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Rosary in the 2020 Census, accounting for 45.8% (247 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 Rosary in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rosary a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rosary 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 Rosary still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rosary 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 Rosary 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 are named Rosary?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.