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Stela

#11,804 in 2025Girls' name

English equivalent of Stella

Stela has been given to 204 babies in the U.S. since 2000. In 2025 it ranked #11,804 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 2021, with 14 recorded.

Babies named Stela, 2025

1 in 414,000

Stela over time, 1880–2025

Girls
05101518801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Stela: meaning, origin, and history

English equivalent of Stella

Latin

What Stela means

Stela is a English equivalent of Stella.

Origin, language, and formation

Stela is used in Albanian, Czech, Polish, Romanian and Slovak. Its origins include Latin.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Stella and aster.

Pronunciation and spelling

In Czech, Stela is pronounced [ˈstɛla].

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 204 girls were recorded with the name Stela between 2000 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 14 in 2021; its best national rank was #7,982 in 2021.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #10,977 in 2020 to #11,804 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #10,767 in 2015 to #11,804 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 Stela?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 414,000
8 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 201,000
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025
#11,804
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
287,238 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Stela sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

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 287,238 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Stela. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Stelas were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Stela was born before 2015 — so the typical Stela is around 10 today.

Median birth year
2015
About 10 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
46.1% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
97.5%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
204
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 46.1% of all recorded uses (94).

Is Stela 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
−3,435
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
−827
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−1,037
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.80×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
57.1%
Peak was 2021 (14)
Years since peak
4
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
34.1% average annual change
Best rank ever
#7,982
2021

Spellings of Stela

Stela is not the most common spelling — Sheila is, with 28.9% against Stela's 0.02%.

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.

Stela around the world

Where Stela ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    2006–2024
    #4,193
    in 2024
  • Ireland
    2008–2020
    #834
    in 2020
  • France
    1998–2025
    #6,124
    in 2025
  • Canada
    2022–2022
    #2,896
    in 2022
  • South Australia
    1964–2010
    #801
    in 2010

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Central Statistics Office, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. CSO, CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Stela by the numbers

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

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#11,804
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 827
Best rank ever
#7,982
2021
Peak year
2021
14 that year
First recorded
2000
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
204
Count in 2025
8

Names similar to Stela

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

SteelySteeleZaelaYselaMielaSteveeHeelaTaelaNyelaRaelaCielaBaelaSeelaNaelaStetsonMaelaAvielaSteviAmelaVaelaMirelaSteelieMeelaAzaela

Sibling names for Stela

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

Explore around Stela

Top names of 2021, Stela's peak yearThe 2020s in fullOther names that peaked in 2021Girls' names starting with SUncommon Romanian Girl Names