Stella
Meaning of Stella
Stella, pronounced STEL-uh, originates from the Latin noun “stella,” meaning “star,” a term popularized in the English-speaking world by Sir Philip Sidney’s Elizabethan sonnet sequence “Astrophel and Stella” and periodically reinforced by Victorian tastes for classical revival. The name’s semantic link to celestial light has fostered enduring cultural associations—from the stage command “Stella!” in Tennessee Williams’s A Streetcar Named Desire to the artistic legacies of acting teacher Stella Adler and designer Stella McCartney—each instance subtly reinforcing an image of brilliance and aspiration. United States birth-record data indicate an early-twentieth-century zenith, a prolonged mid-century recession, and a pronounced resurgence beginning in the late 1990s; since 2018 it has remained securely within the national top fifty, ranking 49th in 2024. Such longitudinal stability suggests that Stella now occupies the sociolinguistic space of a modern classic: readily recognizable, historically anchored, and semantically resonant with the enduring human inclination to find guidance in the stars.
Pronunciation
English
- Pronunced as STEL-uh (/'stɛl.ə/)
U.S. Popularity Chart
States Popularity Chart
Similar Names to Stella
Notable People Named Stella
| Stella Adler was an American actress and acting teacher. |
| Stella McCartney is an English fashion designer, daughter of Paul and Linda McCartney, who champions animal rights and sustainability and has designed Adidas activewear since 2005. |
| Stella Taylor, an American long-distance swimmer born in Bristol, England, twice swam the English Channel and was recognized by Guinness as the oldest woman to do so. |
| Stella Tennant was a British model and designer who rose to fame in the early 1990s and had a career spanning nearly three decades. |
| Stella Maynes Maxwell is a British Irish model, former Victorias Secret Angel, and face of Max Factor. |
| Stella Obasanjo, wife of former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo, served as First Lady of Nigeria from 1999 until her death during elective liposuction abroad. |
| Stella Alexander, a British writer and scholar born and raised in China, left letters and unpublished memoirs held by the British Library covering the Quaker movement, Yugoslavian history, and the Japanese occupation of Shanghai during World War II. |
| Stella Damasus is a Nigerian actress and singer with a 2009 Africa Movie Academy Awards nomination and Best Actress wins at the 2007 Nigeria Entertainment Awards and the 2012 Golden Icons Academy Awards for Two Brides and a Baby. |
| Stella Young was an Australian comedian, journalist, and disability advocate. |
| Stella Huang is a Singaporean singer, actress and entrepreneur. |
| Stella Maeve is an American actress known for The Runaways, a two season recurring role on the NBC series Chicago PD, and a main role on the Syfy series The Magicians. |
| Stella Katsoudas is a Greek American pop and rock singer known as Stella Soleil and Sister Soleil, former frontwoman of Dirty Little Rabbits, who released the 2015 album Under a DubWitch Moon as DubWitch. |
| Stella Blakemore was a South African author of Afrikaans youth novels. |
