# Stella (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/stella/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | girls |
| Origin | Latin |
| Meaning | “star” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈstɛlə/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | Stell |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 207,288 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 382 / 206,906 (100% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 3,542, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Latin stēlla (“star”). Noun sense 2 is after the protagonist of How Stella Got Her Groove Back (1998).

## What it means

Stella is grouped under star.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 3,698 | 74 |
| 2012 | 4,006 | 62 |
| 2013 | 3,916 | 70 |
| 2014 | 4,203 | 66 |
| 2015 | 4,798 | 51 |
| 2016 | 4,933 | 45 |
| 2017 | 5,070 | 42 |
| 2018 | 5,164 | 38 |
| 2019 | 4,997 | 40 |
| 2020 | 4,667 | 42 |
| 2021 | 4,820 | 41 |
| 2022 | 4,849 | 40 |
| 2023 | 4,371 | 46 |
| 2024 | 4,274 | 49 |
| 2025 | 4,136 | 52 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1937 | 7 | 3,144 |
| 1938 | 9 | 2,629 |
| 1939 | 7 | 3,077 |
| 1942 | 7 | 3,185 |
| 1947 | 5 | 4,204 |
| 1948 | 8 | 2,982 |
| 1957 | 6 | 3,941 |
| 1959 | 5 | 4,505 |
| 1977 | 5 | 6,735 |
| 2010 | 7 | 10,600 |
| 2011 | 6 | 12,069 |
| 2012 | 7 | 10,609 |
| 2014 | 6 | 11,919 |
| 2015 | 7 | 10,477 |
| 2020 | 5 | 13,786 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 159 | 307 |
| 2012 | 132 | 364 |
| 2013 | 131 | 345 |
| 2014 | 134 | 341 |
| 2015 | 118 | 388 |
| 2016 | 141 | 343 |
| 2017 | 138 | 346 |
| 2018 | 145 | 330 |
| 2019 | 117 | 373 |
| 2020 | 159 | 294 |
| 2021 | 148 | 318 |
| 2022 | 150 | 299 |
| 2023 | 137 | 323 |
| 2024 | 141 | 305 |
| 2025 | 130 | 333 |

## In other languages

- Czech: Stela
- French: Estelle
- Polish: Stela, Stella
- Russian: Стелла
- Spanish: Estela, Estrella

## People named Stella

- Stella McCartney, British fashion designer (born 1971)
- Stella Adler, American actress and acting teacher (1901–1992)
- Stella Stevens, American actress (1938–2023)
- Stella Maxwell, Belgian-New Zealand supermodel (born 1990)
- Stella Gibbons, British writer (1902–1989)
- Stella Kyriakides, Cypriot politician
- Stella Rimington, British director of MI5 (1935–2025)
- Estella Agsteribbe, Dutch gymnast (1909–1943)
- Stella Obasanjo, First Lady of Nigeria (1945-2005)
- Stella Maeve, American film and television actress
- Stella Benson, British writer (1892–1933)
- Stella Zázvorková, Czech actress (1922-2005)

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.