Starling

#6,749 in 2025UnisexBoys' nameGirls' name

Transferred from a surname; no fixed literal translation

Starling has been given to 1,226 babies in the U.S. since 1880. In 2025 it ranked #6,749 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 1920, with 26 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 82% boys, 18% girls all-time.

Babies named Starling, 2025

1 in 255,000

Starling over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Starling over time

In 2025, Starling went to 38% girls and 62% boys.

18802025

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Starling: meaning, origin, and history

Transferred from a surname; no fixed literal translation

surname transfer

What Starling means

Starling is a given name.

Origin, language, and formation

Starling is used in English. Its origins include surname transfer.

Starling is recorded as a surname transferred into given-name use.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 1,001 boys were recorded with the name Starling between 1880 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 26 in 1920; its best national rank was #774 in 1908.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #11,830 in 2020 to #6,749 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #8,638 in 2015 to #6,749 in 2025.

In the United States, 225 girls were recorded with the name Starling between 1930 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 18 in 2023; its best national rank was #4,498 in 1930.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #8,354 in 2020 to #11,802 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #9,419 in 2015 to #11,802 in 2025.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Starling?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025: 1 in 255,000; 13 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only: 1 in 131,000; <0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025: #6,749; of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size: 176,762 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Starling sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%

Class of 30Under 1%

Grade of 100Under 1%

School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 176,762 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Starling. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Starlings were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Starling was born before 1943 — so the typical Starling is around 82 today.

Median birth year: 1943; About 82 years old
Biggest decade: 1920s; 15.5% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 11.9%; Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950: 407; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

1920s — 15.5% of all recorded uses (155).

Is Starling rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago: +4,025; Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago: +5,081; Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago: +1,889; Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago: 1.44×; More babies than then
Share of its own peak: 50.0%; Peak was 1920 (26)
Years since peak: 105; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Volatile; 39.9% average annual change
Best rank ever: #774; 1908

Spellings of Starling

Starling is not the most common spelling — Sterling is, with 93.5% against Starling's 2.5%.

Sterling93.5%37,474
Starling2.5%1,001
Stirling2.1%851
Sterlin1.8%737

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Starling is used

Across 1910–2025, Starling was most concentrated in Georgia — about 1 in — boys, against 1 in 1,003,537 across all states with data. It was least common in New York (1 in —).

00 per 100,000

State popularity map

Most concentrated

1Georgia1 in —
2Kentucky1 in —
3North Carolina1 in —
4New York1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Starling has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Starling by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025: #6,749
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: Up 5,081
Best rank ever: #774; 1908
Peak year: 1920; 26 that year
First recorded: 1880
Last recorded: 2025
All-time count: 1,001
Count in 2025: 13

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025: #11,802
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: Down 3,448
Best rank ever: #4,498; 1930
Peak year: 2023; 18 that year
First recorded: 1930
Last recorded: 2025
All-time count: 225
Count in 2025: 8

Names similar to Starling

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

Stavros Stafford Stirling Stanislaw Blessing Stanislav Stanford Harding Standley Manning Stanton Statler Stanlee Stanly Kipling Stanislaus Fielding Pershing Erling Redding Grayling Henning Channing Fleming

Sibling names for Starling

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

For a sister

Marcelle Lovie Ray Ione Linnie Marjory Lelia Margarette

For a brother

Hilton Junius Haywood Antone Harmon Buster Newton Odis

Explore around Starling

Top names of 1920, Starling's peak year The 1920s in full Other names that peaked in 1908 Boys' names starting with S Bird Names for Boys Bird Names for Girls Bird Names