Rosita
Rose, a diminutive form of the feminine name Rose, meaning "little rose" in Spanish.
Name Census estimates that about 4,480 living Americans carry the first name Rosita. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Rosita today is around 52 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rosita births was 1966 (139 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rosita. 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 Rosita with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
4.5K
~ 1 in 76,508 Americans
Peak year
1966
139 babies that year
Average age
52
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,346
Tracked since 1888
Census
Rosita in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 8,677 people with the first name Rosita, which placed it at #2,703 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
#2,703
National first-name rank
People counted
8.7K
8,677 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
44.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rosita
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rosita is Hispanic at 44.6%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (29.6%) and Black (10.9%). 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 Rosita 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 Rosita at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino44.6% · 3,872
- Asian and Pacific Islander29.6% · 2,569
- Black or African American10.9% · 944
- White10.0% · 865
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.0% · 257
- Two or more races2.0% · 170
Popularity
Rosita: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rosita from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 1,227 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Rosita 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 Rosita during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Rositas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 20 states and territories. Texas, California, New York recorded the most babies named Rosita, while Virginia, Missouri, Alabama recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 180 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Rosita
Rosita is a feminine given name with Spanish origins. It is a diminutive form of the name Rosa, derived from the Latin word "rosa" meaning rose. The name rose to prominence during the Middle Ages when rose cultivation became widespread across Europe.
The earliest recorded use of the name Rosita dates back to the 16th century in Spain. It was a popular name among Spanish nobility and upper-class families during this time period. The name's association with the rose flower, a symbol of beauty and love, contributed to its appeal.
In the 17th century, the name Rosita gained further popularity in Spanish-speaking regions of the Americas, particularly in Mexico and parts of Central and South America. It was often bestowed upon daughters of Spanish colonists and later became a common name among the local indigenous populations as well.
One of the earliest notable figures with the name Rosita was Rosita de Espinosa (1632-1702), a Mexican poet and writer known for her religious works and contributions to the literary culture of New Spain.
During the 19th century, Rosita Mauri (1850-1923), a Spanish dancer and actress, achieved fame for her performances in various operas and theatrical productions across Europe.
In the early 20th century, Rosita Quintana (1925-1935) was a Mexican child actress who gained recognition for her role in the film "Sor Alegria" (1934), which explored the struggles of poverty and exploitation faced by children in Mexico City.
Another notable figure was Rosita Moreno (1907-1998), a Mexican-American actress and dancer who appeared in numerous Hollywood films during the 1930s and 1940s, including "Flying Down to Rio" (1933) and "The Littlest Rebel" (1935).
Rosita Boissiers (1930-2004), a Chilean singer and actress, was a prominent figure in the Latin American entertainment industry during the mid-20th century, known for her work in musicals and television shows.
People
Rosita + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rosita 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
Rosita: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rosita?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,480 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rosita 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 76,508 US residents.
Is Rosita a common name?
We classify Rosita as "Rare". It ranks above 96.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 6,683 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rosita most popular?
The single biggest year for Rosita was 1966, when 139 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rosita is about 52 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rosita in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 8,677 people with the name Rosita, or 2.87 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,703 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 Rosita 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 Rosita?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rosita appears almost entirely female. Of the 8,679 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 Rosita?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rosita is Hispanic at 44.6%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (29.6%) and Black (10.9%). 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 Rosita most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Rosita in the 2020 Census, accounting for 44.6% (3,872 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 Rosita in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rosita a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rosita 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 Rosita still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rosita 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 Rosita 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 Rosita as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.