Name of the Week: Rose

 

Origin:

Rose is the common English name for the rose flower, a flower which has been of symbolic importance for millennia. The name for the rose derives directly from the Latin name for the flower, rosa, which most likely ultimately derives from the Persian root *vrda- "rose flower." The rose has been the sacred symbol of many important goddesses associated with love, such as Ishtar, Aphrodite, Isis and Venus. It was later used as such for the Virgin Mary under the titles Rosa Munda  "pure rose," Rosa Mundi "rose of the world," Rosa Mystica "the mystical rose" and Rosa d'Abril "April rose." Victorian floriography continued this association, and the rose was used to symbolise "love." Long before Rose was adopted as a given name in honour of the flower in Britain it was already in use as an Anglicised form of the Norman name Roheis (also found as Rohais, Rohese and Roese). These names, in turn, were Latinised as Rohesia, Roesia and Roesa and later became Royce and Rose. By the 13th century, Rose was the most common form of Roheis — by which time it was associated and conflated with the flower — while Rosa was the Latin form most commonly found in records.  Like Rosalind and Rosamund, Roheis may derive from hros "horse." However, a more likely possibility is that it derives from the Old Germanic name Hrodohaidis, derived from hrod "fame" and heit "sort, kind, type." The are a few examples of the name in early Frankish nobility including Ruodhaid (775–810), abbess of Faremoutiers, and a daughter of the great king Charlemagne.  The move from Hrodohaidis to Rohesia and eventually to Rose, with the gradually dropping of the harder consonants, is mirrored in the similar Germanic name Adalheidis (adal "noble" and heit "sort"): Hrodoheidis > Rohesia > Rose Adalheidis > Adelisa > Alice Other Germanic names starting with hrod are plentiful: Hrodebert (Robert), Hroderich (Roderick), Hrodgar (Roger), Hrodland (Roland), Hrodulf (Rolf) and Hrotsuitha (Roswitha) to name a few.

Usage:

As a variant of Roheis, examples of Rose in British records date back to at least the 13th century and even led to the surname Rose.  According to George Redmond's survey of 1000 names from ten English counties 1377-81, Rose ranked at #30 meaning it was moderately used.  It continued in this usage right up until the 18th century. Rose appears in thirteen out of sixteen decades in Smith Bannister's rank of top 50 names from 1538 to 1700 in England: 1538-49: #39; 1550-9: #28; 1560-9: #40; 1570-9: #35; 1580-9: #42; 1590-9: #45; 1600-9: #37; 1610-9: #50; 1640-9: #32; 1650-9: #33; 1660-9: #47; 1680-9: #36; 1690-1700: #27.  Data from the 1881 census lists 78,139 women with the name Rose, giving it an overall rank (male and female names combined) of #65. The distribution of the name was largely situated in the South of England, particularly in Bedfordshire and the Isle of White.  During the 19th century, a multitude of Ros- names were in use. The most popular were Rose, Rosa, Rosina, Rosanna and Rosetta, but Rosamund, Rosalie, Rosabella, Rosaline and Rosalind were also in use.  Rose peaked in 1900 and only left the top 100 after 1934, around the time that Rosemary was taking its place. Records for Rose (and variant Ros- names) as a first name in the England and Wales Birth Index:   Rose Rosa Rosina Rosanna Rosetta Rosemary 1840: 1850:  1860:  1870:  1880:  1890: 1900:  1904: 1914: 1924: 1934: 1944: 1954: 1964: #65 #52 #49 #32 #26 #23 #27 #29 #30 #44 #64 — — — #75 #60 #54 #43 #52 #73 #91 — — — — — — — #68 #68 #60 #62 #61 #70 #83 #84 #89 — — — — — #71 #78 #65 #84 #104 #137 #195 — — — — — — — #77 #85 #83 #86 #105 #115 #142 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — #97 #42 #36 #43 #95 In the 20th century, Rose had declined drastically by the 1960s, only to rise again in the 1990s.   1900 1925 1935 1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985  1990   152    88   38   14   12    14    4    4    2   4     -    24 Data by Leslie Dunkling; per 10,000 births in England and Wales.  From 1996, Rose has been steadily rising in England and Wales. Some of this may have been influenced by the huge film hit Titanic (1997) in which Kate Winslet starred as the character Rose DeWitt Bukater.  In 1996, Rose ranked #181 with 244 births.  It first reached the top 100 in 2007 at #95 (576 births) after which it steadily progressed.  In 2017, Rose ranked #60 in England and Wales with 932 births.  In Scotland, Rose ranked #65 with 69 births in 2017.

Famous Bearers:

History: * Rose of Viterbo (c1233-1251), Italian saint.  * Rose Philippine Duchesne (1769-1852), French-American saint. * Rose-Alexandrine "Liberte" Barreau (1773–1843), female soldier of the Army of the French First Republic. * Rose Henderson (1871-1937), Canadian political and social activist. * Rose Wilder Lane (1886-1968), American journalist and political theorist, and the daughter of Laura Ingalls Wilder. * Rose Leveson-Gower, Countess Granville (1890-1967), maternal aunt of Queen Elizabeth II.  * Rose Gaffney (1895–1979) Polish-American environmental activist. * Rose Hobart (1906-2000), American actress. * Rose Hill (1914-2003), British actress. * Rose Marie (1923–2017), American actress. Contemporary: * Rose Byrne, Australian actress. * Lady Rose Gilman, younger daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, and 33rd in the line of succession to the British Throne. * Rose Leslie, Scottish actress. * Rose McGowan, American actress. * Rose McIver, New Zealand actress. * Rose Rollins, American actress. Literature and Other Media: * Rose DeWitt Bukater, main character in the film Titanic (1997). * Rose Tyler, a companion of the Doctor in the BBC series Doctor Who. * Rose Henderson, a character from ABC TV show Lost. * Rose Nylund, a character in the TV series The Golden Girls. * Rose Granger-Weasley, daughter of Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter books. * Rose Hathaway, the main character of the Vampire Academy series. * Rose Sargent, from the musical Rose of Washington Square.

Variants:

Rosa; Roza (Bulgarian, Russian, Slavic), Róża (Polish), Ruža (Croatian, Slavic), Roos (Dutch), Rózsa (Hungarian), Raisa (Yiddish)

Pronunciation:

RŌZ [key]

Possible  longer forms:

Rosa, Rosabel, Rosabella, Rosalie, Rosalia, Rosalina, Rosalind, Rosalinda, Rosaline, Rosalita, Rosamund, Rosetta, Rosina, Rosanna, Roseanne, Rosario, Rosella, Rosemarie, Rosemary, Rosenwyn, Primrose

Sibling Names:

Alice     Bella     Eve     Lucy     Ella     Anna  Luke     Adam     Ellis     Matthew     James     Henry

Name Lists:

Dulcet Dainties  Medieval Favourites   Terrifically Tudor  Victorian Darlings  Roaring Twenties Names   Dickensian Names  Bronte Names  Tennyson Names  Gilbert and Sullivan Names   Doctor Who Names

 

If you like Rose you may also like:   Tess, April, Belle, Fleur, May, Ruby, Sarah, Mia, Emma, Leah

Thanks to Lydia Rose for requesting this name.