Rosalie

About Rosalie

Rosalie is a form of Rosalia, a Latin-derived name connected with the rose. Used in French, German, Dutch, and English, it lengthens the familiar flower name into three syllables. Its story includes a Sicilian saint in the wider name family, a Hollywood musical, and a pronounced American revival after decades of quieter use.

Meaning and the rose family

The Late Latin name Rosalia comes from rosa, meaning rose. Rosalie is the French, German, and Dutch form, and it has also become established in English. Its floral meaning is shared with Rose and Rosa, while its ending creates a different rhythm.

Rosalia and Rosalía preserve a longer ending in Italian and Spanish. Rosalee is an English spelling variant of Rosalie. These are close relatives within a recognizable name family, although they do not all have the same pronunciation or pattern of stress.

A Sicilian connection

Saint Rosalia, a twelfth-century Sicilian saint, belongs to the name's religious history. She is especially associated with Palermo, where a major festival honors her. The celebrations recall the city's deliverance from plague in 1624, traditionally attributed to her intercession.

Rosalie reaches this story through Rosalia. The connection gives the name a historical setting beyond the flower itself: processions and annual remembrance have kept the saint's name prominent in Palermo.

Rosalie on screen

The musical film Rosalie appeared in 1937, starring Eleanor Powell and Nelson Eddy. Powell plays Rosalie, a European princess, while Eddy plays a West Point cadet. Their romance links the world of an imagined European kingdom with the American military academy.

Cole Porter supplied songs for the film. Its lavish musical treatment put Rosalie directly into a movie title as well as a central character's name. The release came just before the name's strongest year in American girls' rankings, in 1938, giving the period a particularly clear screen association.

This is an older cultural connection than Rosalie's current revival. It helps place the name in the musical-film era of the late 1930s, rather than treating it as a recent elaboration of Rose.

Pronunciation and nicknames

In English, Rosalie is usually ROH-zuh-lee, with the main stress at the beginning. French has clearer vowels, roughly ro-za-lee, while German commonly emphasizes the final syllable. The same spelling therefore travels with different musical patterns in speech.

Rosie is a natural everyday shortening from the opening sounds; Rose and Rosa offer other compact options. Lia could be drawn from the longer Rosalia, but it is not the same spoken ending as English Rosalie. Rosalee keeps Rosalie's English sound with a different written finish.

American popularity

Rosalie reached #66 for United States girls in 1938, with 3,758 births. It later declined to #1,418 in 2000 before returning to #590 in 2010 and #171 in 2025, when 1,797 girls received it. The recent rise follows a long interval outside the top 1,000, making Rosalie an example of a returning older name.

How popular is Rosalie?

In 2025, Rosalie ranked #171 among girls in the United States, with 1,797 recorded uses. The U.S. birth records first list this spelling for girls in 1880; its largest annual count was 3,758 in 1938. Rankings count each spelling separately. They describe national use, so local familiarity can differ. The popularity chart shows whether the name has remained common, returned after a quieter period, or risen recently.