Sterling

Primarily a boy's name · 91% boys

Meaning

Sterling is a given name from the Old English staerling, referring to the bird, starling; two variants of the name are Starling and Stirling. Notable people with the name include: Sterling Archer, fictional character from Archer Sterling Foster Black, American lawyer Sterling K.

From Wikipedia

Sterling first appears in the data in 1880 and has been recorded in 145 different years as a boy's name. Its single biggest year was 2024 with 880 babies (rank #372 that year). In 2024 it was given to 880 boys (rank #372). The name has been rising over the last five years.

Numerology of Sterling

In Pythagorean numerology, every letter has a value from 1 to 9. Adding the letters of Sterling yields these three numbers — a playful read on the name's character.

5Destiny numberThe free spiritCurious, restless, energised by change.Sum of every letter. The overall character a name carries.
5Soul urgeThe free spiritCurious, restless, energised by change.Sum of the vowels — what's said to drive the heart.
9PersonalityThe humanitarianIdealistic, compassionate, thinks in big-picture terms.Sum of the consonants — the outer impression.

40,025

Total babies (all years)

145

Years in the data

880

Peak in a single year

Popularity Over Time — Boys

Famous people named Sterling

Sterling Haydenautobiographer · b. 1916
Sterling K. Brownfilm actor · b. 1976
Sterling Knightfilm actor · b. 1989
Sterling Morrisonguitarist · b. 1942
Sterling Hollowayfilm actor · b. 1905

Share your Sterling story

Why did you choose this name — or what does it mean to you? Approved stories appear on this page.

More popular boys' names

Names ranked near Sterling in 2024

Other boys' names starting with S

Year-by-Year Detail

Rank is among all boys' names registered that year.

Year	Babies	Rank
1880	17	#440
1881	8	#695
1882	16	#466
1883	20	#396
1884	20	#413
1885	18	#436
1886	10	#640
1887	19	#390
1888	25	#374
1889	15	#494
1890	15	#509
1891	25	#348
1892	23	#403
1893	30	#321
1894	15	#536
1895	35	#308
1896	21	#436
1897	25	#382
1898	26	#390
1899	18	#454
1900	38	#356
1901	28	#352
1902	30	#365
1903	31	#352
1904	33	#353
1905	30	#390
1906	32	#385
1907	39	#358
1908	44	#344
1909	47	#343
1910	46	#390
1911	47	#425
1912	100	#385
1913	132	#362
1914	151	#385
1915	209	#373
1916	202	#391
1917	218	#384
1918	249	#376
1919	254	#361
1920	259	#374
1921	269	#372
1922	270	#364
1923	253	#376
1924	280	#356
1925	241	#385
1926	246	#371
1927	236	#386
1928	229	#392
1929	250	#356
1930	208	#404
1931	193	#405
1932	227	#371
1933	186	#397
1934	186	#409
1935	179	#413
1936	194	#393
1937	166	#439
1938	188	#415
1939	177	#429
1940	204	#402
1941	200	#413
1942	258	#379
1943	217	#422
1944	211	#416
1945	216	#410
1946	232	#419
1947	281	#409
1948	255	#421
1949	260	#423
1950	252	#422
1951	260	#421
1952	255	#440
1953	255	#450
1954	252	#458
1955	267	#457
1956	279	#456
1957	246	#497
1958	245	#498
1959	259	#487
1960	237	#516
1961	249	#505
1962	288	#469
1963	288	#465
1964	284	#471
1965	215	#523
1966	239	#490
1967	216	#512
1968	246	#485
1969	234	#509
1970	221	#548
1971	242	#523
1972	183	#589
1973	194	#570
1974	195	#575
1975	183	#600
1976	189	#593
1977	214	#573
1978	226	#556
1979	225	#571
1980	242	#550
1981	218	#581
1982	237	#559
1983	276	#508
1984	293	#490
1985	274	#527
1986	297	#513
1987	326	#491
1988	415	#444
1989	389	#486
1990	451	#463
1991	454	#463
1992	503	#440
1993	504	#437
1994	573	#402
1995	511	#446
1996	469	#463
1997	428	#494
1998	424	#505
1999	392	#531
2000	363	#569
2001	395	#545
2002	357	#589
2003	325	#632
2004	300	#675
2005	272	#743
2006	270	#772
2007	269	#800
2008	245	#869
2009	231	#899
2010	299	#755
2011	307	#739
2012	350	#675
2013	441	#583
2014	552	#507
2015	595	#493
2016	671	#458
2017	712	#436
2018	783	#409
2019	753	#410
2020	767	#400
2021	844	#382
2022	802	#398
2023	792	#403
2024	880	#372