Sterling
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Meaning
"little star" or "of high quality"
The story
Sterling is the name that is its own certificate: little star in one traditional reading, of assured quality in the everyday one, the word English attaches to silver when the silver is real. The record matches the meaning with unusual fidelity: never gone, never faddish, between about 1,600 and 3,200 a decade for most of a century, then a modern firming, 5,300 in the 1990s, 6,400 in the 2010s, and 6,100 so far this decade, closing on the full total. In our records it goes to boys about 37,300 to 3,700, with a real girls' share emerging this decade. Most names promise something; Sterling is the promise, stamped the way assayers stamp the metal. The record shows a century of parents accepting the hallmark at face value, which is exactly how hallmarks are supposed to work.
How popular is Sterling around the world?
In the United States, 6,128 babies were named Sterling between 2020 and 2025.
Sterling is on the official records of the United States, Canada, New Zealand, South Australia and England and Wales.
United States
1 in 3,600
In the United States, 6,128 babies were named Sterling between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Sterling peaked in the 2010s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure. In US birth records Sterling has stayed between 2,183 and 6,398 births in every decade since the 1950s: a name everyone knows and few children get.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Canada
1 in 5,000
In Canada, 68 boys named Sterling were born in 2024, the 455th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
New Zealand
1 in 5,800
In New Zealand, 10 boys named Sterling were registered in 2025.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time
South Australia
1 in 6,1002017
In South Australia, 3 boys were registered as Sterling in 2017.
The count never rose above 4 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
England and Wales
1 in 24,000
In England and Wales, 24 boys named Sterling were born in 2025, ranked 1,197th among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Austria
last on record 2023
Sterling is not on the 2025 record for Austria, which publishes every first name down to a single birth, so the name was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
Not on the record in Spain, Mexico City, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Ireland, Scotland and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Montevideo record for 1940 to 2011: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
Keep exploring
The Sterling deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Sterling 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 Sterling fits with your family’s names and surname.
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