Roslynn
Pretty little rose, feminine form of English Roslin.
Name Census estimates that about 1,185 living Americans carry the first name Roslynn. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Roslynn today is around 30 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Roslynn births was 2014 (47 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Roslynn. 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 Roslynn with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.2K
~ 1 in 289,244 Americans
Peak year
2014
47 babies that year
Average age
30
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,261
Tracked since 1929
Census
Roslynn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 978 people with the first name Roslynn, which placed it at #12,647 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
#12,647
National first-name rank
People counted
978
978 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
47.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Roslynn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Roslynn is White at 47.9%. The next largest groups are Black (26.6%) and Hispanic (15.4%). 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 Roslynn 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 Roslynn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White47.9% · 468
- Black or African American26.6% · 260
- Hispanic or Latino15.4% · 151
- Two or more races5.8% · 57
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.2% · 31
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 11
Popularity
Roslynn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Roslynn from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 331 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Roslynn remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Roslynn 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 Roslynn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Roslynns live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. Texas, California, Ohio recorded the most babies named Roslynn, while Michigan, Ohio, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 20 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Roslynn
The name Roslynn is an English variant of the Scottish name Roslyn, which itself is a locational surname derived from the town of Roslin or Rosslyn in Midlothian, Scotland. The town's name is believed to come from the Gaelic words "ros" meaning a promontory or rocky hill, and "linn" meaning a waterfall or pool.
The earliest recorded use of the name Roslynn dates back to the 12th century, when it was associated with the Rosslyn Chapel, a medieval chapel located in the village of Roslin. The chapel was founded in 1446 by William St Clair, 3rd Prince of Orkney, and its intricate carvings and architectural details have made it a renowned historical and cultural landmark.
Roslynn has been a relatively uncommon name throughout history, but it has been borne by a few notable individuals. One of the earliest recorded bearers was Roslynn Hoskins (c. 1570-1635), an English midwife and author of the book "The Compleat Midwife's Practice." Her work was highly influential in the field of midwifery during the 17th century.
Another notable Roslynn was Roslynn Barker (1892-1978), an American actress and dancer who performed on Broadway and in several Hollywood films during the early 20th century. She was known for her roles in productions such as the Ziegfeld Follies and the musical comedy "No, No, Nanette."
In the 19th century, Roslynn Merritt (1823-1901) was a prominent American educator and author. She founded the Merritt Seminary for Young Ladies in New York and published several books on education and literature.
A more recent historical figure with the name Roslynn was Roslynn Engelman (1926-2011), an American lawyer and civil rights activist. She was a pioneering figure in the fight for gender equality and played a crucial role in the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment in the United States.
Roslynn has also been used as a given name in literature and popular culture. One notable example is the character Roslynn Haynes in the novel "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison, which explores themes of race, beauty, and identity in 1940s America.
People
Roslynn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Roslynn 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
Roslynn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Roslynn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,185 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Roslynn 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 289,244 US residents.
Is Roslynn a common name?
We classify Roslynn as "Rare". It ranks above 91.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,304 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Roslynn most popular?
The single biggest year for Roslynn was 2014, when 47 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Roslynn is about 30 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Roslynn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 978 people with the name Roslynn, or 0.32 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,647 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 Roslynn 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 Roslynn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Roslynn appears almost entirely female. Of the 976 people counted with this name, 99.5% 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 Roslynn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Roslynn is White at 47.9%. The next largest groups are Black (26.6%) and Hispanic (15.4%). 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 Roslynn most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Roslynn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 47.9% (468 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 Roslynn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Roslynn a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Roslynn 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 Roslynn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Roslynn 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 Roslynn 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 Roslynn as a first name?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Roslynn, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.