The first name Stella is either of Latin or Greek origin. The Latin word ‘stēlla’ means ‘star’, in Greek it is the feminine form of ‘stelios’ (‘pillar’).
Stella is a first name typically given to girls, but in rare cases also used as a boys name.
The first name Stella is one of the top 100 most popular girls names in the US – currently at #42 in our SmartGenius ranking. Over 1,000 babies each year are named Stella, accounting for approximately 0.30 % of all newborn girls. In the entire USA, approximately 163,328 people – children, adults and seniors – currently bear the name Stella. That is 0.05 % of all living Americans.
The first name Stella is either of Latin or Greek origin. The Latin word ‘stēlla’ means ‘star’, in Greek it is the feminine form of ‘stelios’ (‘pillar’).
By the way… the Stella d'Italia or (colloquially) the Stellone d'Italia ('Star of Italy' or 'Great Star of Italy') is one of the oldest national and state symbols of Italy.
Stella Adler (1901 - 1992)
The American actress and acting teacher Stella Adler was known for her extensive knowledge of the 'Stanislavski' acting method and her influential approach to acting training. She started her career in the 1920s at 'Group Theatre' were she first came in touch with the infulential acting teacher Konstantin Stanislavski
Stella Maxwell (*1990)
The Belgian-Irish model Stella Maynes Maxwell worked as a Victoria's Secret Angel and is the face of the cosmetics brand Max Factor. She made her modeling debut in 2008 and gained mainstream fame for walking on the runways of high fashion brands such as Moschino, Dolce & Gabbana, Mugler, Fendi, Chanel, Miu Miu or Versace. In addition to her work as a model, she also advocates for LQBTQAI+ rights and campaigns as an activist.
Stella Sigcau (1937 - 2006)
Princess Stella Sigcau was a Minister in the South African Government and the first female Prime Minister of the bantustan of Transkei. As a member of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) Sigcau was active in the struggle against apartheid and was involved in the Black Consciousness Movement in South Africa. She was arrested several times for her political activities and was imprisoned. Even after the fall of apartheid, Sigcau held several government positions and remained committed to promoting the rights and well-being of the people of South Africa.
Stelly McCartney (*1971)
Stella Nina McCartney is an English fashion designer. She is the daughter of former Beatles-member and singer-songwriter Paul McCartney and the animals rights activist Linda McCartney. Stella McCartney's brand is known for its use of organic and sustainable materials, such as organic cotton and vegetarian leather. She is an advocate for animal rights and doesn't use any leather, fur, or skins in her designs.
When you hear the name Stella, you might first think of a woman or a girl. But did you know that there are also places with the name Stella? Are you also called Stella? Maybe one day you will visit the places that are named just like you...
which extends from Thumb Rock to the southeast end of Winter Island in the Argentine Islands, is named Stella creek.
The Hiawatha National Forest in Alger County, Michigan, contains a Lake with the name Stella. It has an area of 314 acres.
In the very north of Italy, within the Bergamo Alps, you can find a mountain named Corno Stella. It rises to an altitude of 8,595 feet.
is called Stella Point. It is named for Estella Latham who was one oft he first to reach the 18,848.4 feet position of the highest mountain in Africa.
mountains in Italy. Pizzo Stella for example is a mountain located in the north of Chiavenna, Lombardy - one of six Monte Stellas in Italy.
If we dig really deep into our statistics, we find that there are very few girls' names that have been consistently popular for so long that they have been given to newborns in every single year since the beginning of our records in 1880. In fact, there are only 432 girls' names that appear in our statistics in every single year, and Stella is one of those very special classics. At the same time, Stella has never been more popular than it is in this century - in 2018, the name even made it to rank #36 of the most popular girls' names, easily landing in the top 100 of our SmartGenius first name statistics.
In years where the graph has no value, the name Stella was given less than five times or even none at all in the entire USA.
...because: In 2022, 4,830 girls were born and given the name Stella by their parents. That puts Stella at #38 on our list of most popular girls' names. It was much less popular in 1995 - only 125 parents chose this name for their newborn daughter and it ranked 1,239 on the popularity scale of all girls' names.
The name Stella may not be in the top rankings of the most popular girls’ names, but it is one of the few female given names, along with only 536 others, that can be found in every single state in the U.S. from Alaska to Florida and from California to New York. Of course, the name occurs more frequently in some states than in others – and Stella is apparently especially popular in New Mexico. Although the name is not one of the top 100 most popular women’s names here either, one in 477 women in New Mexico is called Stella. In total, that’s 1,656 women who feel addressed when the name Stella is shouted loudly across New Mexico and who ensure that their name makes it to #130 in our SmartGenius ranking of the most common female names in this nice state. If you asked all women in the entire U.S. for their first name, you would hear Stella as the answer a total of 163,328 times. This places Stella at #214 in our SmartGenius statistics for the most popular women’s names in the whole of the USA. This is true for all currently living women across all states and age groups – the recent popularity of the name Stella as a baby name is, of course, a bit different, as you can see from the statistics above.
Well, you might say, you probably figured that out yourself! But what you might not know is: The letter S is a very popular first letter for girls' names. That’s because 9.3% of all common girls’ names in the US begin with this letter. Only the first letter A is more common for girls' names.
With six letters, the name Stella is of average length. In fact, 28% of all common first names in the US consist of exactly six letters. 24% of all first names are shorter, while 48% have seven letters or more. On average, first names in the US (not counting hyphenated names) are 6.5 letters long. There are no significant differences between boys' and girls' names.
That means that if 9.3% of all girls' names start with an S, this initial letter occurs nearly three times as often as all other letters on average. And by the way: Of all the girls' names that start with an S, Susan is the most common.
If your name is Stella and someone asks after your name, you can of course just tell them what it is. But sometimes that isn't so easy - what if it's too loud, and you don't understand them well? Or what if the other person is so far away that you can see them but not hear them? In these situations, you can communicate your name in so many other ways: you call spell it, sign it, or even use a flag to wave it...
So that everyone really understands you when you have to spell the name Stella, you can simply say:
Sun
Tiger
Elephant
Lion
Lion
Apple
Braille is made up of dots, which the blind and visually impaired can feel to read words.
Stella
Stella
Just use American Sign Language!
These flags are used for maritime communication - each flag represents a letter.
S
T
E
L
L
A
In the navy, sailors of two ships might wave flags to each other to send messages. A sailor holds two flags in specific positions to represent different letters.
S
T
E
L
L
A
In Morse code, letters and other characters are represented only by a series of short and long tones. For example, a short tone followed by a long tone stands for the letter A. Stella sounds like this:
