Rosie: meaning and UK use

What does Rosie mean?

Rosie is a diminutive of Rose. Rosy is a related spelling; Rose is a useful comparison if you want a longer or shorter formal form.

Language or name family covered

English name family

Meaning or derivation

A short form of Rose

Our browsing group

girl; vintage, nature

Browsing groups describe our editorial shortlist, not rules about who may use a name. A name can cross languages and genders.

Sources for this entry — reviewed 2026-10-07:

• Behind the Name — Rosie

Pronunciation and related forms

ROH-zee (English)

English respellings are approximate; IPA is labelled where used. Follow the pronunciation a person or family chooses, and check it with a speaker of the intended language if that connection matters to you.

Related forms recorded in the reference: Rose, Rosy. These may be full forms, diminutives or forms in another language; they are not necessarily pronounced alike or counted together in statistics.

How popular is Rosie?

In 2025, 1,343 baby girls in England and Wales were registered as Rosie, making it the 24th most popular girls’ name. That is the same position as in 2024. Ten years earlier, in 2015, it ranked 36th, so it has climbed 12 places in a decade. Its best year in the ONS series was 2020, at 9th. These figures cover England and Wales, not the whole UK.

2025 rank (girls)

24th

2025 registrations

1,343

Best rank in this series

9th (2020)

Every year from 1996 to 2025

Rosie: rank and number of baby girls by year (ONS)

Year	Rank	Babies
2025	24	1,343
2024	24	1,406
2023	21	1,508
2022	16	1,686
2021	11	2,028
2020	9	2,035
2019	14	2,036
2018	26	1,808
2017	35	1,388
2016	36	1,403
2015	36	1,403
2014	33	1,475
2013	38	1,369
2012	48	1,263
2011	55	1,124
2010	59	1,010
2009	62	1,002
2008	65	999
2007	61	987
2006	68	880
2005	61	914
2004	57	958
2003	52	1,024
2002	55	951
2001	61	838
2000	66	766
1999	63	808
1998	71	786
1997	70	818
1996	69	879

The sum of published counts in this 1996–2025 girls series is 36,895. This is a lower bound where years are suppressed, not the number of living people with the name. A best rank is the best position within this series; it does not establish an all-time record.

Selected hyphenated registrations starting with Rosie in 2025: Rosie-Mae: 23 (girls); Rosie-May: 12 (girls). This selection includes up to four matching forms with at least ten registrations, not every compound name.

Sources: ONS release, 2025; girls' dataset; boys' dataset. Our 20 top-ten positions were checked against Table 1 in the 2025 workbooks. The history chart and spelling comparisons come from the separate ONS 1996–2025 workbook, checked 7 October 2026. Spelling variants are separate entries. Scotland and Northern Ireland have separate statistics.

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Names to compare with Rosie

These suggestions share a browsing group and one or more of our style tags or source-context labels. They are taste comparisons, not etymological relatives or a popularity ranking.

• Daisyvintage, nature · The daisy flower
• Hazelvintage, nature · The hazel tree or hazel colour
• Irisvintage, nature · Rainbow
• Ivyvintage, nature · The ivy plant
• Adavintage · From an element meaning noble
• Avasame browsing group · An English variant of Eve

Read the UK naming guide for the difference between inspiration lists and official statistics, or return to the full name finder.

Registering or changing the name

Once you decide on Rosie, confirm the registration process for your UK nation with the register office. If you later want to change a registered name, the route depends on the circumstances and may require consent from people with parental responsibility.

Start with GOV.UK birth registration or GOV.UK guidance on changing a child’s name. Our registration guide and child name-change guide explain where to find the relevant official process.