How common is the surname Sterling?

25,894 people in the United States had the surname Sterling in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 11,923 Americans. It ranked 1,362nd of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Sterling?

Bruce Sterling, American author, speaker and futurist (born 1954), followed by Jan Sterling.

Where is the surname Sterling most common?

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

How do you pronounce Sterling?

Sterling is /ˈstɝ.lɪŋ/, 2 syllables.

Is the surname Sterling getting more or less common?

More common. 24,314 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 25,894 in 2010, up 6.5%.

Is Sterling also a first name?

Yes. Sterling is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.

The surname Sterling

A surname, carried by 25,894 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈstɝ.lɪŋ/ 2 syllables Soundex S364 Also a first name

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Sterling is more common than 99.2% of them.

Origin

See Stirling.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 25,894 people named Sterling in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 11,923 Americans. That is up 6.5% since 2000, when the Census counted 24,314.

#1,362

rank among US surnames

25,894

people in 2010

8.8

per 100,000 Americans

+6.5%

change since 2000 (was #1,333)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#1,353	Gil	26,112	11,824
#1,354	Crabtree	26,104	11,828
#1,355	Grady	26,103	11,828
#1,356	McClellan	26,060	11,847
#1,357	Kumar	25,986	11,881
#1,358	Fraser	25,961	11,893
#1,359	Rico	25,954	11,896

Who is named Sterling

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

64% of people named Sterling identified as white (not Hispanic), 28% as Black (not Hispanic) and 4.3% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

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

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Sterlings

14 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

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, born 1934
Tisha Sterling
American actress, born 1944
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, born 1984

Notable Sterlings come mostly from the United States (13) and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Sterling

Sterling has the Soundex code S364, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code S364.

Questions

Where does the surname Sterling come from?: See Stirling.
How common is the surname Sterling?: 25,894 people in the United States had the surname Sterling in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 11,923 Americans. It ranked 1,362nd of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Sterling?: In the 2010 Census, 64% of people named Sterling identified as white (not Hispanic), and 28% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Sterling?: Bruce Sterling, American author, speaker and futurist (born 1954), followed by Jan Sterling.
Where is the surname Sterling most common?: Wikidata records people named Sterling in the United States and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
How do you pronounce Sterling?: Sterling is /ˈstɝ.lɪŋ/, 2 syllables.
Is the surname Sterling getting more or less common?: More common. 24,314 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 25,894 in 2010, up 6.5%.
Is Sterling also a first name?: Yes. Sterling is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.