Rosalee
A feminine name derived from rose, meaning beautiful flower.
Name Census estimates that about 6,877 living Americans carry the first name Rosalee. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Rosalee today is around 33 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rosalee births was 2020 (346 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rosalee. 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 Rosalee with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
6.9K
~ 1 in 49,841 Americans
Peak year
2020
346 babies that year
Average age
33
years old
2024 SSA rank
#959
Tracked since 1880
Census
Rosalee in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 6,905 people with the first name Rosalee, which placed it at #3,154 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
#3,154
National first-name rank
People counted
6.9K
6,905 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
63.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rosalee
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rosalee is White at 63.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (15.5%) and Black (14.3%). 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 Rosalee 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 Rosalee at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White63.6% · 4,394
- Hispanic or Latino15.5% · 1,068
- Black or African American14.3% · 987
- Two or more races4.2% · 293
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 83
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 80
Popularity
Rosalee: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rosalee from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 2,080 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Rosalee remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Rosalee 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 Rosalee during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Rosalees live
The SSA's state-level files cover 37 states and territories. South Carolina, Texas, California recorded the most babies named Rosalee, while District of Columbia, Idaho, Nebraska recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 205 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Rosalee
Rosalee is a feminine given name derived from the Spanish name Rosalía, which itself originates from the Latin phrase "rosa lilia" meaning "rose lily". The name's roots can be traced back to the Middle Ages in Spain and Portugal, where it was a popular name among Catholic families, likely inspired by the veneration of the Virgin Mary, who is often associated with roses and lilies.
The earliest recorded use of the name Rosalee dates back to the 16th century in Spanish and Portuguese colonial records from the Americas. It was a common name among women of Spanish and Portuguese descent in regions such as Mexico, the Caribbean, and parts of South America during this time period.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, the name Rosalee gained popularity in various European countries, particularly in France, where it was sometimes spelled as Rosalie or Rosalie. One notable figure from this era was Rosalie Ducreux (1756-1802), a French painter and one of the few recognized female artists of her time.
As the name spread across different cultures and regions, it underwent various spellings and variations, including Rosalee, Rosalie, Rosalia, and Rosalina. In the 19th century, Rosalee became a common name among English-speaking families, particularly in the United States and Canada.
One of the most famous historical figures with the name Rosalee was Rosalee Calvert (1856-1948), an American philanthropist and social activist who founded the Rosalee Calvert Settlement House in New York City, providing educational and social services to immigrants and the underprivileged.
Another notable figure was Rosalee Morse (1870-1953), an American physician and one of the first female doctors in the United States to specialize in obstetrics and gynecology. She played a significant role in advancing women's healthcare and advocating for women's rights in the medical field.
In the 20th century, Rosalee continued to be a popular name, with several notable individuals bearing the name. Rosalee Preminger (1918-1986) was an American film producer and the first wife of legendary director Otto Preminger. Rosalee Montante (1923-2006) was an American baseball player who played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League during World War II.
Rosalee Pruitt (1932-2015) was an American diplomat and the first African American woman to serve as a United States Ambassador, appointed by President Ronald Reagan to represent the United States in Burkina Faso in 1980.
While the name Rosalee has declined in popularity in recent decades, it remains a timeless and elegant name with a rich cultural heritage and history, spanning centuries and continents.
People
Rosalee + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rosalee 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
Rosalee: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rosalee?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 6,877 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rosalee 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 49,841 US residents.
Is Rosalee a common name?
We classify Rosalee as "Rare". It ranks above 97.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 12,626 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rosalee most popular?
The single biggest year for Rosalee was 2020, when 346 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rosalee is about 33 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rosalee in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 6,905 people with the name Rosalee, or 2.29 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,154 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 Rosalee 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 Rosalee?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rosalee appears almost entirely female. Of the 6,900 people counted with this name, 99.9% 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 Rosalee?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rosalee is White at 63.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (15.5%) and Black (14.3%). 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 Rosalee most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Rosalee in the 2020 Census, accounting for 63.6% (4,394 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 Rosalee in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rosalee a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rosalee 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 Rosalee still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rosalee 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 Rosalee 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 Rosalee?
Want to know how many people share the name Rosalee? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.