Roslind
A variant spelling of Rosaline, a feminine name originating from Latin meaning "Pretty Rose".
Name Census estimates that about 118 living Americans carry the first name Roslind. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Roslind today is around 61 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Roslind births was 1970 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Roslind. 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
118
~ 1 in 2,904,698 Americans
Peak year
1970
12 babies that year
Average age
61
years old
1986 SSA rank
#9,322
Tracked since 1946
Census
Roslind in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 235 people with the first name Roslind, which placed it at #34,648 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
#34,648
National first-name rank
People counted
235
235 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
54.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Roslind
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Roslind is Black at 54.9%. The next largest groups are White (32.3%) and Hispanic (4.7%). 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 Roslind 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 Roslind at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American54.9% · 129
- White32.3% · 76
- Hispanic or Latino4.7% · 11
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.4% · 8
- Two or more races3.4% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 3
Popularity
Roslind: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Roslind from the 1940s through to the 1980s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 68 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Roslind 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 Roslind during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Roslind
Roslind is a feminine given name with roots traced back to the Old Norse and Old German languages. Its origins can be found in the combination of the Germanic elements "hros," meaning "horse," and "lind," meaning "tender" or "soft."
This name was initially popularized in medieval Scandinavia and the Germanic regions of Europe. It was often associated with strength, grace, and a connection to nature, reflecting the admiration for horses in these cultures.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Roslind can be found in the Icelandic Sagas, where it was mentioned as the name of a prominent figure in the 13th century. Additionally, variations of the name appeared in ancient Norse mythology, often associated with goddesses of fertility and protection.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have carried the name Roslind. One such example is Roslind of Compiègne (c. 1180 - c. 1262), a French noblewoman and benefactor who founded a convent and was renowned for her charitable works.
In the realm of literature, the name gained prominence through Geoffrey Chaucer's 14th-century work, "The Canterbury Tales." The character Roslind, a beautiful and virtuous maiden, played a significant role in the narrative and became a literary icon of the time.
Another noteworthy figure was Roslind von Wendelstein (1495 - 1567), a German poet and Renaissance writer known for her lyrical works and contributions to the literary culture of her era.
During the 16th century, Roslind Varnhagen (1512 - 1589), a German botanist and naturalist, made significant contributions to the study of plant life, earning recognition for her extensive cataloging efforts.
In the world of music, Roslind Stein (1670 - 1738), a German composer and musician, gained fame for her instrumental works and compositions for the harpsichord, which were highly regarded during the Baroque period.
While the name Roslind has experienced ebbs and flows in popularity over the centuries, its rich historical roots and associations with strength, grace, and nature have endured, making it a unique and meaningful choice for a given name.
People
Roslind + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Roslind 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
Roslind: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Roslind?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 118 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Roslind 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 2,904,698 US residents.
Is Roslind a common name?
We classify Roslind as "Very Rare". It ranks above 67% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 148 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Roslind most popular?
The single biggest year for Roslind was 1970, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Roslind is about 61 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Roslind in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 235 people with the name Roslind, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #34,648 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 Roslind 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 Roslind?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Roslind leans strongly female. 230 people counted with this name were female (98.3%), compared with 4 male bearers (1.7%). 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 Roslind?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Roslind is Black at 54.9%. The next largest groups are White (32.3%) and Hispanic (4.7%). 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 Roslind most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Roslind in the 2020 Census, accounting for 54.9% (129 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 Roslind in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Roslind a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Roslind 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 Roslind still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Roslind 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 Roslind 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 Americans are named Roslind?
Want to know how many people have the name Roslind? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.