Estella
The story
Estella is the Latinate form of Estelle, star by way of stella, and the heroine's name in Dickens's Great Expectations, published serially starting in 1860. The American record drew her a perfect vintage arc: 3,174 girls in the 1890s, an early run reaching 5,797 in the 1920s, then the long midcentury descent, down to 617 in the 1990s. Then the revival: 1,557 in the 2000s, 3,053 across the 2010s, and 3,139 already since 2020, past the full 2010s total with years to spare. Brazil is writing its own chapter at the same time: 4,941 residents in the 2022 census, median age eight, most of them from the last two decades. Stella's short form fills the modern charts, and the long form's own columns are climbing again. Great expectations, this time around, rewarded.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Estella peaked in the 1890s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
4,941 people · the #2,761 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 41,667 · median age 8
Among people named Estella living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 2010s than in any other decade.
The census also counted 1,470 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Estella
People given the name Estella in the United States span the generations: the middle half were born anywhere from 1950 to 2019. Age is the one thing the name won't tell you.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Estella deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Estella truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Estella fits with your family’s names and surname.
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