Rosalva
Pretty rose, a feminine name of Spanish origin.
Name Census estimates that about 1,860 living Americans carry the first name Rosalva. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Rosalva today is around 46 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rosalva births was 1975 (65 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rosalva. 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
1.9K
~ 1 in 184,277 Americans
Peak year
1975
65 babies that year
Average age
46
years old
2023 SSA rank
#14,826
Tracked since 1926
Census
Rosalva in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 6,500 people with the first name Rosalva, which placed it at #3,283 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
#3,283
National first-name rank
People counted
6.5K
6,500 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
98.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rosalva
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rosalva is Hispanic at 98.8%. The next largest groups are White (0.7%) and Black (0.2%). 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 Rosalva 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 Rosalva at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino98.8% · 6,421
- White0.7% · 47
- Black or African American0.2% · 15
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.2% · 11
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.0% · 3
- Two or more races0.0% · 3
Popularity
Rosalva: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rosalva from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 517 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Rosalva 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 Rosalva during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Rosalvas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. California, Texas, Illinois recorded the most babies named Rosalva, while Arizona, Illinois, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 393 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Rosalva
The name Rosalva is of Spanish origin, derived from the Latin words "rosa" meaning rose and "alva" meaning white or fair. It is a compound name that can be interpreted as "white rose" or "fair rose."
The earliest known use of the name Rosalva dates back to the medieval period in Spain, where it was often given to girls born into noble families. The rose was a significant symbol in European heraldry and was associated with beauty, purity, and nobility.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Rosalva can be found in the 13th-century Spanish epic poem "El Cantar de Mio Cid," which tells the story of the legendary Castilian knight, El Cid Campeador. In the poem, Rosalva is mentioned as the name of a young woman from a noble family.
Throughout history, the name Rosalva has been borne by notable individuals, including Rosalva Aldama (1817-1866), a Mexican educator and feminist who fought for women's rights and established one of the first schools for girls in Mexico City. Another notable bearer of the name was Rosalva Carriere (1905-1975), a Mexican actress and singer who appeared in numerous films during the Golden Age of Mexican cinema.
In the realm of literature, Rosalva is the name of a character in the novel "La vida es sueño" (Life is a Dream) by the Spanish playwright Pedro Calderón de la Barca (1600-1681). The character of Rosalva represents the ideal of virtuous and pure love.
Rosalva Neira (1920-2007) was a Colombian writer and journalist who played a significant role in the literary and cultural scene of her country. She was known for her novels, short stories, and essays that explored social issues and the struggles of women in Colombian society.
Another notable figure with the name Rosalva was Rosalva Zapata (1923-2016), a Mexican artist and educator who was influential in the development of modern art in Mexico. Her works, often inspired by indigenous Mexican culture and mythology, are held in numerous museum collections around the world.
While the name Rosalva is more commonly found in Spanish-speaking countries, it has also been used in other cultures and languages, reflecting the universal appeal of the rose as a symbol of beauty and purity.
People
Rosalva + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rosalva 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
Rosalva: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rosalva?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,860 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rosalva 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 184,277 US residents.
Is Rosalva a common name?
We classify Rosalva as "Rare". It ranks above 93.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,128 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rosalva most popular?
The single biggest year for Rosalva was 1975, when 65 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rosalva is about 46 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rosalva in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 6,500 people with the name Rosalva, or 2.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,283 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 Rosalva 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 Rosalva?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rosalva appears almost entirely female. Of the 6,499 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Rosalva?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rosalva is Hispanic at 98.8%. The next largest groups are White (0.7%) and Black (0.2%). 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 Rosalva most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Rosalva in the 2020 Census, accounting for 98.8% (6,421 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 Rosalva in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rosalva a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rosalva 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 Rosalva still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rosalva 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 Rosalva 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 Rosalva as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.