Stella · Daily fortune

Stella is a feminine name meaning "star" in Latin. Behind the Name records that it was created by the 16th-century poet Philip Sidney for the subject of his sonnet collection Astrophel and Stella, and was later the nickname of Jonathan Swift's friend Esther Johnson (1681–1728); it did not become common as a real given name until the 19th century. Wikipedia adds that the Catholic title Stella Maris, "Star of the Sea", for the Virgin Mary may have helped popularise it. In 2025 Stella ranked #52 for girls in the United States.

Behind the Name's entry is direct: Stella "means 'star' in Latin", from the Latin root stella. Wikipedia agrees — "It is derived from the Latin word for star." Unusually for a name with a classical vocabulary meaning, the personal name is a literary coinage rather than an inherited one: Behind the Name credits Philip Sidney with creating it in the 16th century. Wikipedia also notes a separate Greek connection, describing Stella as a feminine form of Stylianos, "pillar" — which matches Behind the Name's second entry for the spelling.

Stella begins as a literary invention. Behind the Name records that Philip Sidney coined it in the 16th century for the addressee of Astrophel and Stella; Wikipedia dates that sequence to the 1580s. It next appears as a private nickname: Behind the Name notes that Stella was what Jonathan Swift called Esther Johnson (1681–1728). Only in the 19th century did it become common as a given name. Behind the Name also records its most famous modern appearance, Stella Kowalski — sister of Blanche DuBois and wife of Stanley — in Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire (1947). Wikipedia describes it as having taken particular hold in Germanic- and Romance-language regions, and as being especially popular in Anglophone Africa and Latin America.

Stella ranked #52 for girls in the United States in 2025 (Social Security Administration). Behind the Name notes that the name was not commonly used until the 19th century; Wikipedia describes it as widely used today in Germanic- and Romance-speaking regions and particularly popular in Anglophone Africa and Latin America.

Behind the Name gives three pronunciations for the Stella spelling — English, Italian and Dutch. The remaining entries are the local forms it lists under "Other Languages & Cultures"; their pronunciations were not verified in this pass.

Stella is short, stressed on the first syllable and ends in the -a that runs through much of the current American top 100, which is why it sits comfortably beside Luna, Nova and Aurora on celestial shortlists. Its literary and theatrical history gives it more weight than a plain word-name: Sidney's sonnets on one side, Streetcar on the other. It travels well, since the Latin root is transparent in several European languages, and it has no obvious nickname — a feature for parents who want the whole name used.

Bearers and characters named in the sources consulted for this profile. Wikipedia's full list of notable Stellas was not mined beyond its highlighted entries.

Names that share Stella's celestial meaning, its Latin register, or its sound.