ROSE WHITE

Ostensibly from the vocabulary word denoting the flower (Latin rosa). However, the name was in use throughout the Middle Ages, long before any of the other girls' names derived from flowers, which are generally of 19th-century origin. In part it may refer to the flower as a symbol of the Virgin Mary, but it seems more likely that it also has a Germanic origin, probably as a short form of various girls' names based on hros ‘horse’ or hrōd ‘fame’. The Latinate form Rohesia is commonly found in documents of the Middle Ages. As well as being a name in its own right, it is currently used as a short form of Rosemary and, less often (because of their different pronunciation), of other names beginning Ros-, such as Rosalind and Rosamund.

English, Scottish, and Irish: from Middle English whit ‘white’, hence a nickname for someone with white hair or an unnaturally pale complexion. In some cases it represents a Middle English personal name, from an Old English byname, Hwīt(a), of this origin. As a Scottish and Irish surname it has been widely used as a translation of the many Gaelic names based on bán ‘white’ (see Bain 1) or fionn ‘fair’ (see Finn 1). There has also been some confusion with Wight.