Santa Rosa was formerly called "Banga-banga", and was a barrio of Cabanatuan during the Spanish Regime. It was told that this was so-called because of the people’s way of fetching water by use of jars-commonly known as “Banga”. When the barrio was eventually made into a municipality, Banga-banga was renamed to "Santa Rosa", after a patron saint found inside an abandoned Spanish headquarter.