Rosalind comes from the Germanic elements hros, "horse", and lind, "tender" or soft, though since the Middle Ages it has been understood through the Latin rosa linda, "pretty rose". Shakespeare gave it to the witty heroine of As You Like It, and the chemist Rosalind Franklin, whose work was key to discovering the structure of DNA, is its most admired modern bearer. Rosalind peaked at number 1213 in 2017 and ranks number 1521 in 2025.