Rosalita
A feminine name of Spanish origin meaning "little rose".
Name Census estimates that about 222 living Americans carry the first name Rosalita. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Rosalita today is around 50 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rosalita births was 1944 (36 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rosalita. 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 Rosalita with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
222
~ 1 in 1,543,938 Americans
Peak year
1944
36 babies that year
Average age
50
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,888
Tracked since 1943
Census
Rosalita in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 484 people with the first name Rosalita, which placed it at #21,098 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
#21,098
National first-name rank
People counted
484
484 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
33.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rosalita
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rosalita is Hispanic at 33.1%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (26.0%) and White (25.6%). 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 Rosalita 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 Rosalita at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino33.1% · 160
- Asian and Pacific Islander26.0% · 126
- White25.6% · 124
- Black or African American7.2% · 35
- American Indian and Alaska Native5.6% · 27
- Two or more races2.5% · 12
Popularity
Rosalita: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rosalita from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 128 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
Rosalita 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 Rosalita during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Rosalitas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Rosalita
Rosalita is a feminine given name with Spanish origins, derived from the combination of the Spanish words "rosa" meaning rose and "lita" a diminutive suffix. It is a variant of the name Rosalia, which itself stems from the Latin word "rosalia" meaning "little rose." The name is believed to have emerged during the Renaissance period in Spain and Italy, as a reflection of the cultural appreciation for the beauty and symbolism of the rose flower.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Rosalita can be found in the 16th century Spanish novel "La Araucana" by Alonso de Ercilla y Zúñiga, where a character named Rosalita is mentioned. This literary reference suggests that the name was already in use during the Golden Age of Spanish literature.
In religious contexts, the name Rosalita is associated with Saint Rosalia, a 12th-century Italian nun who is celebrated as the patron saint of Palermo, Sicily. Her devotion to the Virgin Mary and her acts of charity during a plague outbreak in Palermo led to her canonization in 1624, further popularizing the name among Catholic communities.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Rosalita. One such figure was Rosalita Mendoza (1889-1973), a Mexican actress and singer who gained fame during the Golden Age of Mexican cinema. Another prominent bearer of the name was Rosalita Quintero (1925-2014), a Cuban-American artist and ceramicist known for her vibrant works inspired by her Cuban heritage.
In the literary realm, Rosalita Bringas was the protagonist of the 19th-century Spanish novel "La de Bringas" by Benito Pérez Galdós, published in 1884. The character's name and the novel itself reflect the enduring popularity of the name during that period.
Additionally, Rosalita Forbes (1876-1967), an American writer and explorer, made significant contributions to travel literature with her books documenting her adventures across Asia and the Middle East in the early 20th century.
Rosalita has maintained its charm and significance as a given name throughout various eras, reflecting its Spanish roots and the cultural admiration for the beauty of the rose. Its rich history and associations with literature, art, and religion have contributed to its enduring appeal across different regions and cultures.
People
Rosalita + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rosalita 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
Rosalita: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rosalita?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 222 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rosalita 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 1,543,938 US residents.
Is Rosalita a common name?
We classify Rosalita as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 317 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rosalita most popular?
The single biggest year for Rosalita was 1944, when 36 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rosalita is about 50 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rosalita in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 484 people with the name Rosalita, or 0.16 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #21,098 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 Rosalita 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 Rosalita?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rosalita leans strongly female. 489 people counted with this name were female (98.0%), compared with 10 male bearers (2.0%). 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 Rosalita?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rosalita is Hispanic at 33.1%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (26.0%) and White (25.6%). 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 Rosalita most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Rosalita in the 2020 Census, accounting for 33.1% (160 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 Rosalita in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rosalita a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rosalita 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 Rosalita still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rosalita 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 Rosalita 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 Rosalita?
You can see how many people share the name Rosalita on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.