The name Rossana — which looks Rosanna, but is actually the Italian form of Roxana — first appeared in the U.S. baby name data in the mid-1950s:
- 1956: 43 baby girls named Rossana
- 1955: 15 baby girls named Rossana
- 1954: 10 baby girls named Rossana [debut]
- 1953: unlisted
- 1952: unlisted
What was the influence?
Italian actress Rossana Podestà (born Carla Dora Podestà), who first came to the attention of Americans in early 1954, when she was cast in the lead role of the upcoming epic Helen of Troy (1956).
The stars are Rossana Podesta as Helen and Jacques Sernas as Paris, both completely unknown. Rossana, who plays the most fabulous beauty in history, is a 20-year-old Italian cutie who likes strawberries floating in champagne, sandwiches for breakfast, and men who look her straight in the eye.
Rossana had recently finished filming the Italian movie Ulisse (1954), in which she played Nausicaa. It was released in U.S. theaters the following year as Ulysses.
While Helen of Troy was successful, it didn’t turn either Rossana Podestà or Jacques Sernas into instant Hollywood superstars. But the young French actress who played Helen’s slave Andraste — a then-unknown Brigitte Bardot — was about to become quite famous…
Sources:
- Helen of Troy (1956) – TCM
- “New Italian Star for The Film ‘Helen of Troy’ Likes American Men Who Look Her In The Eye.” Courier-Journal 8 Aug. 1954: 74.
- Rossana Podestà – Wikipedia