Roschelle
A feminine name derived from the rose, symbolizing beauty and grace.
Name Census estimates that about 172 living Americans carry the first name Roschelle. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Roschelle today is around 54 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Roschelle births was 1969 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Roschelle. 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
172
~ 1 in 1,992,758 Americans
Peak year
1969
15 babies that year
Average age
54
years old
1991 SSA rank
#12,743
Tracked since 1959
Census
Roschelle in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 244 people with the first name Roschelle, which placed it at #33,765 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
#33,765
National first-name rank
People counted
244
244 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
45.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Roschelle
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Roschelle is Black at 45.1%. The next largest groups are White (31.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (10.7%). 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 Roschelle 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 Roschelle at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American45.1% · 110
- White31.6% · 77
- Asian and Pacific Islander10.7% · 26
- Hispanic or Latino5.7% · 14
- Two or more races4.9% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.0% · 5
Popularity
Roschelle: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Roschelle from the 1950s through to the 1990s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 77 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
Roschelle 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 Roschelle 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 Roschelle
The name Roschelle is a variant of the French name Rochelle, which has its origins in the Old French word "rochel" meaning "little rock." This name was likely derived from the French city of La Rochelle, a seaport located on the Bay of Biscay in western France. The city's name is believed to come from the Old French "roche," meaning "rock," referring to the rocky promontory on which the city was built.
In the Middle Ages, La Rochelle was an important maritime center and a major port city in the region of Aunis. It played a significant role in the wine trade and was also known for its production of salt from the nearby marshes. The name Rochelle became associated with the city and its inhabitants, and it eventually spread as a given name across Europe.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Roschelle dates back to the 16th century. In 1570, a woman named Roschelle de Aubigne was born in France. She was the daughter of Théodore Agrippa d'Aubigné, a prominent French Protestant writer and soldier during the French Wars of Religion.
Another notable figure with the name Roschelle was Roschelle Landon (1900-1975), an American actress and dancer who performed on Broadway and in several Hollywood films during the 1920s and 1930s. She is best known for her roles in the films "The Vagabond King" (1930) and "The Cat and the Fiddle" (1934).
In the 18th century, Roschelle Levi (1742-1814) was a Jewish scholar and author from Germany. She was one of the first women to write and publish books on Jewish law and ethics, and her works were widely read and respected in her time.
During the 19th century, Roschelle Vaillant (1818-1892) was a French painter and sculptor known for her portraits and genre scenes. She studied under renowned artists such as Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres and exhibited her works at the prestigious Paris Salon.
In more recent times, Roschelle Woodson (born 1976) is an American actress and singer who has appeared in various television shows and films, including "Love Jones" (1997) and "Soul Food" (2000-2004).
While the name Roschelle is not as common today as it once was, it has a rich history and cultural significance, particularly in its connection to the French city of La Rochelle and its role in maritime trade and cultural exchange during the Middle Ages and Renaissance periods.
People
Roschelle + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Roschelle 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
Roschelle: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Roschelle?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 172 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Roschelle 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 1,992,758 US residents.
Is Roschelle a common name?
We classify Roschelle as "Very Rare". It ranks above 72.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 196 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Roschelle most popular?
The single biggest year for Roschelle was 1969, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Roschelle is about 54 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Roschelle in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 244 people with the name Roschelle, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #33,765 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 Roschelle 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 Roschelle?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Roschelle leans strongly female. 241 people counted with this name were female (96.0%), compared with 10 male bearers (4.0%). 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 Roschelle?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Roschelle is Black at 45.1%. The next largest groups are White (31.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (10.7%). 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 Roschelle most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Roschelle in the 2020 Census, accounting for 45.1% (110 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 Roschelle in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Roschelle a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Roschelle 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 Roschelle still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Roschelle 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 Roschelle 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 are called Roschelle?
You can see how many Americans are named Roschelle on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.