Find out how popular the last name Rosen is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Rosen.

Rosen, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Rosen surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Rosen in America

Rosen is the 1585th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Rosen surname appeared 22,596 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 8 people would have the surname Rosen.

We can also compare 2010 data for Rosen to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Rosen

The surname Rosen is of German origin, derived from the German word "Rose," which means a flower. This name likely originated as a descriptive name or as an occupational name for a person who cultivated roses or lived near a place where roses grew abundantly.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Rosen can be found in the records of the city of Nuremberg, Germany, dating back to the 14th century. A person named Hans Rosen was mentioned in a document from 1386.

In the 16th century, the name Rosen appeared in various parts of Germany, including the regions of Bavaria, Saxony, and Silesia. During this time, variations of the name such as Rößlein, Röschen, and Rosenfeld also emerged.

A notable early bearer of the name was Johann Rosen, a German theologian and reformer who lived from 1532 to 1603. He was a follower of Martin Luther and played a significant role in the Reformation movement.

The surname Rosen also found its way into other European countries, including the Netherlands and Poland. In the Netherlands, the name was sometimes spelled as Roosen or Roosjen, while in Poland, it took the form of Różański or Różycki.

One of the most famous individuals with the surname Rosen was the German mathematician and philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716), who is credited with developing infinitesimal calculus independently of Sir Isaac Newton.

Another notable figure was Nils Rosen (1859-1951), a Swedish chemist and inventor who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1912 for his work on the study of organic dyes and related catalytic processes.

In the United States, the surname Rosen gained prominence in the 19th and 20th centuries, particularly among Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe. One prominent American with this name was David Rosen (1876-1962), a lawyer and politician who served as the United States Ambassador to Siam (now Thailand) from 1933 to 1941.

Other notable individuals with the surname Rosen include Milton Rosen (1915-1986), an American mathematician known for his contributions to game theory and mathematical economics, and Philip Rosen (1888-1951), an American film director and producer who worked in the early years of Hollywood.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Rosen

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Rosen.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Rosen was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Rosen has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Rosen was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Rosen, please contact us.

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