Rosa

Girl · Latin

Rosa

Say it: ROH-sah

Try it with your surname

Meaning

Latin rosa 'rose'; in Spanish America chiefly after Saint Rose of Lima.

Certainscholars agree on this meaning.

Saint Rose of Lima, canonized in 1671, made Rosa a favourite devotional name throughout Spanish America.

Its wave through time

Fading since the 1880s

In the United States

176,234 babies given this name since 1880
At its height in 1888, about 1 in 215 girls
450 babies in 2020

Through the ages

Used by

Italian Spanish Portuguese Mexican Central American Andean Argentine Caribbean Brazilian

The family of the name

Other spellings: Rosita

Portuguese	Rosa
Italian	Rosa
French	Rose

Famous bearers

St Rose of Viterbo (Rosa da Viterbo)
Saint Rose of Lima, first canonized saint of the Americas

Names worth a look

ReginaGirlLatin regina 'queen'.Rome · peak 1967

CassandraGirlUncertain. Sometimes linked to kekasmai 'to excel' with anēr 'man', but this is a guess.Middle Ages · peak 1990

BeatriceGirlFrom Latin Beatrix, probably an altered form of Viatrix 'voyager', reinterpreted as from beatus 'blessed'.Middle Ages · peak 1910

AgnesGirlGreek hagnē, 'pure, holy'. It was later associated with Latin agnus 'lamb', which is why the saint is shown with a…Early Medieval · peak 1899

LucyGirlLatin Lucia, feminine of Lucius, which is generally derived from lux 'light'.Rome · peak 1891

ZoeGirlGreek zōē, 'life'.Early Medieval · peak 2012

RoseGirlIn the Middle Ages often a form of the Germanic name Rohese (probably from hrod 'fame' or hros 'horse'), later…Middle Ages · peak 1908

RussellBoyFrom an English surname, from Old French rousel 'little red one', a nickname for red hair.Victorian · peak 1914

Where this comes from

Calendars of saints and name days
Parish baptism registers
Lives of the saints and early Christian martyrologies
Colonial records of the Americas
United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source

Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.

Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.