# Sterling (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/sterling/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A Scottish surname, variant of Stirling.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 25,894 |
| US rank (2010) | 1,362 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 11,923 people |
| Change since 2000 | +6.5% (24,314 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈstɝ.lɪŋ/, 2 syllables |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

See Stirling.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Sterling in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 64% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 28% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 4.3% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.7% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.5% |
| Two or more races | 2.4% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Sterling in the United States and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

## People named Sterling

- Bruce Sterling, American author, speaker and futurist (born 1954)
- Jan Sterling, American actress (1921–2004)
- Ford Sterling, American comedian (1883–1939)
- Aljamain Sterling, American mixed martial artist (born 1989)
- Mindy Sterling, American actress (born 1953)
- Robert Sterling, American actor (1917–2006)
- Donald Sterling, American business magnate
- Tisha Sterling, American actress
- Thomas Sterling, American politician (1851-1930)
- Ross S. Sterling, American politician (1875-1949)
- George Sterling, American poet and playwright (1869-1926)
- Brett Sterling, American ice hockey player

and 2 more on Wikidata.

## Similar surnames

Starling, Stirling, Sutherlin, Sutherland, Southerland, Strohl, Satterlee, Straley, Soderlund, Strahl, Satterly.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.