Rosemary
Rosemary is a feminine given name, a combination of the names Rose which is a flower that belongs to the Rose family, and from the name Mary which is the name of the Virgin Mary and means Strong, Fertile. It can also be used in reference to the herb named rosemary. Rosemary has been in steady use in the United States and has ranked among the top 1,000 for 110 years.
Meaning & Origin of Rosemary
What this name means, where it came from, and how it has traveled across cultures.
Rosemary is a feminine given name, a combination of the names Rose which is a flower that belongs to the Rose family, and from the name Mary which is the name of the Virgin Mary and means Strong, Fertile. It can also be used in reference to the herb named rosemary. Rosemary has been in steady use in the United States and has ranked among the top 1,000 for 110 years.
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0). Read more →
The Story of Rosemary
Rosemary first appeared in U.S. Social Security Administration records as a baby girl name in 1882, with 9 babies given the name that year. Its peak popularity came in 1947, when 4,542 Rosemarys were born — ranking #80 that year. As of 2026, Rosemary ranks #289 for baby girls with 1,115 births, rising sharply (+37% over the past five years). In total, more than 164K Rosemarys have been born in the U.S. since records began in 1880, spanning the 1880s through the 2020s.
Popularity Over Time
Popularity by State
Notable people named Rosemary
A small selection from Wikipedia. Tap "Read more" below to see the full list on Wikipedia.
- Rosemary A. Bailey (born 1947), British statistician
- Rosemary A. Stevens (born 1935), historian of American medicine and health policy
- Rosemary Aitken (born 1942), English author
- Rosemary Altea (born 1946), British author
- Rosemary Anne Sisson (1923–2017), English television dramatist and novelist
- Rosemary Ashe (born 1953), English stage actress and classically trained opera singer
- Rosemary Ashton (born 1947), British literary scholar
- Rosemary Askin (born 1949), New Zealand geologist
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0). Read more →
Names that sound like Rosemary
Phonetically similar names — useful when Rosemary is the vibe but a different syllable count or letter feel might suit better. Linked entries have a profile on Peek a Name.
Source: Datamuse . Phonetic similarity ranking, not curated.
Frequently Asked Questions about Rosemary
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About the name Rosemary
Rosemary is a girl baby name tracked by the U.S. Social Security Administration. It first appeared in SSA records in 1882 and has accumulated 164K births in the dataset. Rosemary's peak popularity came in 1947 when it ranked #74. Use the chart and map above to compare Rosemary's trajectory across years and U.S. states, or browse the related names section to discover similar choices.
Continue exploring
- Top names of 1947 →
- Names of the 1940s →
- Names starting with "R" →
- Browse all girl names →
- Top names of 2026 →
Data sources
- Birth statistics (counts, ranks, years 1880–2026) — U.S. Social Security Administration . Predictions for years not yet released by SSA are computed by Peek a Name from historical trends; we update with official data as soon as it ships.
- Etymology, cultural origins, and related forms — Behind the Name (used under their public API terms).
- Meaning prose and editorial summary — Wikipedia article extracts, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 .
- Predicted nationality distribution — Nationalize.io .
- Phonetically similar names — Datamuse .
Peek a Name aggregates and presents the above data for informational purposes. Statistical predictions and external attributions are clearly labelled where shown; we make no guarantee of accuracy beyond what each source provides.