Rosalena
A feminine name combining "rose" with the Latin "lena" meaning calm and tender.
Name Census estimates that about 250 living Americans carry the first name Rosalena. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Rosalena today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rosalena births was 2023 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rosalena. 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
250
~ 1 in 1,371,017 Americans
Peak year
2023
15 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,410
Tracked since 1934
Census
Rosalena in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 275 people with the first name Rosalena, which placed it at #31,234 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
#31,234
National first-name rank
People counted
275
275 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
49.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rosalena
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rosalena is Hispanic at 49.1%. The next largest groups are White (30.2%) and Black (12.0%). 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 Rosalena 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 Rosalena at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino49.1% · 135
- White30.2% · 83
- Black or African American12.0% · 33
- Two or more races4.7% · 13
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.9% · 8
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 3
Popularity
Rosalena: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rosalena from the 1930s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 105 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Rosalena remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Rosalena 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 Rosalena 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 Rosalena
Rosalena is a feminine given name with roots tracing back to the Latin language. It is a combination of the words "rosa," meaning rose, and "lena," a variation of the name Helena, derived from the Greek word "helene," meaning light or bright one.
The name Rosalena likely originated in Italy or Spain during the Middle Ages, a period when many names were formed by combining words associated with beauty, virtue, and nature. The rose has long been a symbol of love, beauty, and purity in various cultures, making it a popular choice for naming.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Rosalena can be found in Italian literature from the 14th century, where it appears as the name of a character in Boccaccio's famous work, "The Decameron." This literary reference suggests that the name was in use during the Renaissance period in Italy.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Rosalena. One such individual was Rosalena Terribili (1590-1654), an Italian painter from Bologna who specialized in still-life paintings and was a member of the prestigious Accademia dei Desiderosi.
Another notable Rosalena was Rosalena Gonzalez (1768-1839), a Venezuelan revolutionary and soldier who fought alongside Simón Bolívar in the Venezuelan War of Independence against Spanish colonial rule.
In the 19th century, Rosalena Wilcox (1835-1913) was an American educator and suffragist who advocated for women's rights and the abolition of slavery. She founded several schools and played a significant role in the women's suffrage movement in Illinois.
Rosalena Sautters (1895-1981) was a German film actress who appeared in numerous silent films during the 1920s and 1930s, including "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" (1920) and "Metropolis" (1927), two highly influential works of German Expressionist cinema.
More recently, Rosalena Ramalheira (1919-2001) was a Portuguese writer and journalist known for her contributions to children's literature and her advocacy for women's rights and social justice issues in Portugal.
While the name Rosalena has seen periodic popularity throughout history, its usage has remained relatively uncommon compared to other names derived from the word "rose." Nevertheless, its enduring presence across various cultures and time periods reflects the timeless appeal of combining natural beauty with radiance and light.
People
Rosalena + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rosalena 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
Rosalena: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rosalena?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 250 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rosalena 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 1,371,017 US residents.
Is Rosalena a common name?
We classify Rosalena as "Very Rare". It ranks above 77.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 261 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rosalena most popular?
The single biggest year for Rosalena was 2023, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rosalena is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rosalena in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 275 people with the name Rosalena, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #31,234 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 Rosalena 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 Rosalena?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rosalena appears almost entirely female. Of the 279 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 Rosalena?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rosalena is Hispanic at 49.1%. The next largest groups are White (30.2%) and Black (12.0%). 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 Rosalena most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Rosalena in the 2020 Census, accounting for 49.1% (135 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 Rosalena in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rosalena a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rosalena 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 Rosalena still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rosalena 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 Rosalena 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 Rosalena as a first name?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people share the name Rosalena at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.