Rostislav
A Slavic masculine name meaning "increasing glory" or "glory grows".
Name Census estimates that about 5 living Americans carry the first name Rostislav. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Rostislav today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rostislav births was 2015 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rostislav. 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 Rostislav with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Rostislav. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
5
~ 1 in 68,550,868 Americans
Peak year
2015
5 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2015 SSA rank
#13,653
Tracked since 2015
Census
Rostislav in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 458 people with the first name Rostislav, which placed it at #21,926 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
#21,926
National first-name rank
People counted
458
458 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
97.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rostislav
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rostislav is White at 97.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (1.1%) and Black (0.4%). 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 Rostislav 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 Rostislav at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White97.6% · 447
- Hispanic or Latino1.1% · 5
- Black or African American0.4% · 2
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 2
- Two or more races0.4% · 2
Popularity
Rostislav: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Rostislav 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 Rostislav during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Rostislav
The given name Rostislav is of Slavic origin, derived from the Old Church Slavonic words "rosti" meaning "to grow" and "slava" meaning "glory" or "fame." It is believed to have originated in the 9th or 10th century among the Slavic peoples of Central and Eastern Europe.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Rostislav can be found in the 9th century, when it was borne by a Prince of Great Moravia, Rostislav of Moravia (c. 820–870). He was a prominent ruler who played a significant role in the Christianization of the Moravian and Bohemian lands.
Another notable figure named Rostislav was Rostislav I of Kyiv (c. 912–977), a Prince of Kyivan Rus' who ruled from 944 to 972. He is remembered for his expansion of Rus' territories and his efforts to centralize power in Kyiv.
In the 12th century, Rostislav Mikhailovich (c. 1165–1212) was a prominent Russian prince who ruled over the principalities of Smolensk and Novgorod. He is credited with significant architectural achievements, including the construction of several churches and fortresses.
Another noteworthy individual with the name Rostislav was Rostislav Mikhailovich Muravyov-Apostol (1795–1853), a Russian statesman and military leader. He served as the Governor-General of the Caucasus region and played a crucial role in the Russian conquest of the area in the 19th century.
In more recent times, Rostislav Václavík (1892–1945) was a Czech painter and illustrator who is known for his works depicting Czech folklore and rural life. He is considered one of the most important representatives of the Czech Art Nouveau movement.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who bore the given name Rostislav, a name that has its roots in the Slavic languages and has been associated with concepts of growth, glory, and fame.
People
Rostislav + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rostislav 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
Rostislav: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rostislav?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rostislav 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 68,550,868 US residents.
Is Rostislav a common name?
We classify Rostislav as "Very Rare". It ranks above 18.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rostislav most popular?
The single biggest year for Rostislav was 2015, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rostislav is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rostislav in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 458 people with the name Rostislav, or 0.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #21,926 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 Rostislav 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 Rostislav?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rostislav appears almost entirely male. Of the 457 people counted with this name, 99.6% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Rostislav?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rostislav is White at 97.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (1.1%) and Black (0.4%). 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 Rostislav most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Rostislav in the 2020 Census, accounting for 97.6% (447 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 Rostislav in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rostislav a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rostislav in the SSA data are male. 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 Rostislav still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rostislav 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 Rostislav 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 Americans are named Rostislav?
You can see how many people share the name Rostislav on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.