Rosaria
A feminine name of Italian origin meaning "rose garden".
Name Census estimates that about 1,286 living Americans carry the first name Rosaria. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Rosaria today is around 43 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rosaria births was 1923 (58 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rosaria. 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
1.3K
~ 1 in 266,527 Americans
Peak year
1923
58 babies that year
Average age
43
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,103
Tracked since 1900
Popularity
Rosaria: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rosaria from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 461 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Rosaria 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 Rosaria during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Rosarias live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts recorded the most babies named Rosaria, while Pennsylvania, Michigan, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 169 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Rosaria
Rosaria is a feminine given name of Italian origin, derived from the Latin word "rosa" meaning "rose". The name first emerged during the medieval period in Italy, particularly in regions where Latin and Italian languages were prominent.
In ancient Rome, the rose held significant symbolic meaning, representing beauty, love, and the goddess Venus. As Christianity spread throughout the Roman Empire, the rose became associated with the Virgin Mary, symbolizing her purity and devotion. This connection likely contributed to the popularity of the name Rosaria among Catholic families.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Rosaria can be found in the 12th century, when a nun named Rosaria di Parma lived in the Monastery of San Zaccaria in Venice. She was known for her devotion to the Virgin Mary and her charitable works.
In the 13th century, Rosaria de Santa Fe, a Spanish noblewoman, played a crucial role in the settlement of the city of Santa Fe, New Mexico. She is remembered for her efforts in establishing the city's first church and promoting the spread of Catholicism in the region.
During the Renaissance, the name Rosaria gained popularity among Italian aristocratic families. Rosaria Sforza, born in 1475, was a member of the powerful Sforza dynasty that ruled Milan. She was renowned for her patronage of the arts and her influential role in Italian politics.
In the 17th century, Rosaria Venerini, an Italian educator and nun, founded the Order of the Mistress of Piety, which aimed to provide education for young girls. Her work in promoting education and improving the lives of underprivileged children earned her beatification by the Catholic Church in 1952.
Another notable figure with the name Rosaria was Rosaria Catalano, an Italian-American activist born in 1881. She was a prominent leader in the labor movement and fought for the rights of immigrant workers in the United States, particularly in New York City's garment industry.
While the name Rosaria has maintained its popularity in Italy and among Italian communities worldwide, it has also been embraced by various cultures and languages, often adapting the spelling to fit local conventions, such as Rosario in Spanish or Rosaria in Portuguese.
People
Rosaria + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rosaria 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
Rosaria: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rosaria?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,286 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rosaria 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 266,527 US residents.
Is Rosaria a common name?
We classify Rosaria as "Rare". It ranks above 91.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,535 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rosaria most popular?
The single biggest year for Rosaria was 1923, when 58 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rosaria is about 43 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Rosaria a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rosaria 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.
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.