Explore the Family Name Rosenau

The meaning of Rosenau

German: habitational name from any of numerous places so named (all through Germany, also in Austria and Alsace), from Middle High German rōse ‘rose’ + ouw(e) ‘water meadow’. Some characteristic forenames: German Otto, Wolfgang, Dieter, Friedhelm, Horst, Kurt, Lorenz, Siegfried.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Rosenau in the United States?

According to the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname Rosenau has shown a growth in popularity from 2000 to 2010. In terms of rank, it moved up from 19,411 to 19,105, marking a change of 1.58. The total count of individuals with the Rosenau surname also increased by 10.39%, from 1,290 in 2000 to 1,424 in 2010. Interestingly, despite these changes, the proportion of the Rosenau surname per 100,000 people remained constant at 0.48.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#19,411	#19,105	1.58%
Count	1,290	1,424	10.39%
Proportion per 100k	0.48	0.48	0%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Rosenau

The ethnic identities associated with the Rosenau surname also shifted between 2000 and 2010, according to the Decennial U.S. Census. While the majority of those bearing the Rosenau surname identified as White (95.43% in 2000, falling slightly to 93.47% in 2010), there were some notable changes among other groups. Hispanic identification increased by 59.90%, going from 2.02% to 3.23%. There was also a rise within the Black community, with an increase of 29.63% from 0.54% to 0.70%. Simultaneously, there was a slight decrease of -25.00% among those identifying as two or more races. The data also recorded new representation from Asian/Pacific Islander and American Indian and Alaskan Native groups in 2010, which did not exist in 2000.

	2000	2010	Change
White	95.43%	93.47%	-2.05%
Hispanic	2.02%	3.23%	59.9%
Two or More Races	1.4%	1.05%	-25%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0.91%	0%
Black	0.54%	0.7%	29.63%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0.63%	0%