Stella

Did you know?

A few things about Stella you might not know, from US birth records and Wikipedia. Handy for convincing a partner, or a grandparent.

⭐ Famous Stella

Stella McCartney

British fashion designer (born 1971)

Choose Stella and your child shares a first name with Stella McCartney, a British fashion designer. A ready-made answer when someone asks “Stella, like who?” Stella McCartney's Wikipedia article is available in 50 languages, a good sign of just how widely known they are.

Read about Stella McCartney on Wikipedia ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Photo: Foreign and Commonwealth Office, CC BY 2.0 (opens in a new tab), via Wikimedia Commons

• 👶How commonAbout 1 in every 389 baby girls born in the US in 2025 was named Stella, 4,136 babies in all. In a school of 500 kids, there'd probably be one other Stella.
• 📜HistoryStella has been in use since at least 1880, the first year US birth records were kept. That's 145 years of Stellas, and counting.
• 🏆Best yearIts best year was 2018, when it reached #38.
• 📈Then vs nowStella is 12× more common today than it was in 2000. In 2000 it was given to about 1 in 4,831 baby girls; in 2025, about 1 in 389.
• 📍Where it's lovedStella is most popular in Kansas, where it ranks #30, followed by Connecticut (#34) and Kentucky (#34). It makes the top 1,000 in almost every state.
• 💬MeaningIn Latin, Stella means “star”. Our records link it to French, Italian and Latin roots.
• 🌍OriginStella is the #9 most popular Italian girl name in the US. That's out of 729 Italian girl and unisex names in our list.

About the name Stella

Stella is a girl name of French, Italian and Latin origin meaning “star”. It has 6 letters and 2 syllables, starting with S and ending in “-lla”. US birth records list Stella for girls from 1880 to 2025, in 146 of those 146 years. Its best year was 2018, when it ranked #38 among girl names. In 2025 it ranked #52, with 4,136 babies.

Origin:French namesItalian namesLatin names