Rosie
A feminine name derived from the flower rose, symbolizing beauty and purity.
Name Census estimates that about 31,206 living Americans carry the first name Rosie. It sits at #311 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. It is a predominantly female name (99.4% of registrations). The average person named Rosie today is around 53 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rosie births was 1927 (1,581 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rosie. 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 Rosie with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Rosie is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 470 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
31K
~ 1 in 10,984 Americans
Peak year
1927
1,581 babies that year
Average age
53
years old
1963 SSA rank
#311
Tracked since 1880
Census
Rosie in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 32,765 people with the first name Rosie, which placed it at #1,196 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
#1,196
National first-name rank
People counted
33K
32,765 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
10.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
34.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rosie
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rosie is Black at 34.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (32.4%) and White (25.3%). 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 Rosie 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 Rosie at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American34.0% · 11,147
- Hispanic or Latino32.4% · 10,627
- White25.3% · 8,276
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.0% · 1,626
- Two or more races2.1% · 681
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 408
Gender
Gender distribution for Rosie
Out of the 84,924 babies given the name Rosie since 1880, 99.4% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Rosie as a male name
- Ranked #3,969 in 1963
- 6 male births in 1963
- Peak: 1927 (21 births)
Rosie as a female name
- Ranked #311 in 2024
- 984 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1927 (1,560 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rosie appears almost entirely female. Of the 32,764 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Rosie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rosie from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 14,409 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
Rosie 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 Rosie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Rosies live
The SSA's state-level files cover 48 states and territories. Mississippi, Texas, California recorded the most babies named Rosie, while New Hampshire, Maine, Alaska recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 1,474 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Rosie
The name Rosie is a diminutive form of the name Rose, which has its origins in Latin and ancient Greek. Rose is derived from the Latin word "rosa," which originated from the ancient Greek word "rhodon," meaning a rose or a rose flower. The name Rosie, therefore, carries the symbolic association with the rose flower.
The rose has been a significant symbol in various cultures and religions throughout history. In ancient Greek mythology, the rose was closely associated with the goddess of love, Aphrodite. In Christianity, the rose is considered a symbol of the Virgin Mary and is often depicted in religious artworks and texts.
The earliest recorded use of the name Rosie dates back to the 13th century in England. It gained popularity as a diminutive form of Rose, which had been a common name among English women since the Middle Ages.
One of the earliest notable figures with the name Rosie was Rosie Dore, an English actress who lived in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. She was known for her roles in Shakespearean plays and was a member of the King's Men, a prestigious theatre company of the time.
In the 19th century, Rosie Hackett, an Irish trade union leader and activist, played a significant role in the 1913 Dublin Lockout, a pivotal event in Irish labor history. She was born in 1892 and dedicated her life to advocating for workers' rights and better working conditions.
Rosie the Riveter, a cultural icon representing American women who worked in factories and shipyards during World War II, was a fictional character whose image became a symbol of female empowerment and patriotism. The name Rosie was chosen for its widespread popularity and familiarity among American women at the time.
Another notable figure with the name Rosie was Rosie Batty, an Australian domestic violence advocate. After the tragic loss of her son in a domestic violence incident, she became a prominent voice in raising awareness and advocating for victims of family violence. She was born in 1962 and was named Australian of the Year in 2015.
Rosie O'Donnell, an American comedian, actress, and television host, has been a prominent figure in the entertainment industry since the 1980s. Born in 1962, she is known for her comedic talent, advocacy for LGBTQ+ rights, and philanthropic endeavors.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Rosie
People
Rosie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rosie 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
Rosie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rosie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 31,206 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rosie 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 10,984 US residents.
Is Rosie a common name?
We classify Rosie as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 84,924 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rosie most popular?
The single biggest year for Rosie was 1927, when 1,581 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rosie is about 53 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rosie in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 32,765 people with the name Rosie, or 10.85 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,196 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 Rosie 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 Rosie?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rosie appears almost entirely female. Of the 32,764 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 Rosie?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rosie is Black at 34.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (32.4%) and White (25.3%). 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 Rosie most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Rosie in the 2020 Census, accounting for 34.0% (11,147 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 Rosie in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rosie a female name?
Yes, 99.4% of people registered as Rosie 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 Rosie still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rosie 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 Rosie 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 the name Rosie?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.