Rosemary carries 161,922 cumulative American girls on SSA record and currently sits at rank 301, with a 1947 peak that placed her firmly inside the top 100 in the postwar years. The chart traces a textbook midcentury arc: a strong 1930s-1940s heyday, a steady 1960s-1990s decline, near-disappearance through the 2000s, and a meaningful 2010s revival that has held the name in the top 350 since 2016.
The botanical and Latin source
Rosemary draws its name from the Mediterranean herb (Salvia rosmarinus, formerly Rosmarinus officinalis), with the Latin name combining ros (dew) and marinus (of the sea), giving an underlying meaning of "dew of the sea." The folk-etymological reading as Rose plus Mary is appealing but historically secondary, though most modern American parents respond to the name through the Rose-Mary reading rather than the Latin botanical one.
The herb itself has been associated with remembrance in Western tradition since classical antiquity, with Shakespeare's Ophelia famously declaring "there's rosemary, that's for remembrance" in Hamlet. The herb features in funeral and wedding traditions across multiple European cultures, and the symbolism still informs how the name lands.
The midcentury peak and the revival
Rosemary's 1940s peak coincided with the broader popularity of compound and floral-religious girls' names in postwar American naming, alongside Mary Ann, Rose Marie, and similar combinations. The 1968 Roman Polanski film Rosemary's Baby gave the name a substantial cultural shadow that almost certainly contributed to the steep decline through the 1970s and 1980s.
The 2010s revival is part of the broader vintage-girl-name comeback that brought back Hazel, Eleanor, and Florence. Rosemary fits cleanly inside the four-syllable maximalist-vintage cluster: Genevieve, Beatrice, and Adelaide all share the same elaborate register. Browse the broader Latin girl names set.
The counter-reading
The Rosemary's Baby association is real and slightly persistent. The 1968 film is one of the most culturally embedded horror movies in American cinema history, and parents drawn to the herb-and-remembrance reading may encounter occasional film references throughout the bearer's life. Worth deciding in advance whether that conversation feels worth having.
Nicknames are abundant and flexible: Rose, Romy, Rosie, Mary, Mae. Sibling pairings work across the elaborate-vintage cluster: Rosemary and Eleanor, Rosemary and Genevieve. Middle names tend short to balance: Rosemary Jane, Rosemary Kate. See similar revivals on the rising names list.