Estelle
Estelle was the 573rd most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 523 babies. Its best year was 1911, when it ranked 106th; the most babies were born in 1915 (1,784). Over the last ten years it has moved up 243 places. More babies were named Estelle in the 1910s than in any other decade.
Meaning star · Occitan, French, Latin
Say it eh-STEL /ɛˈstɛl/
- Rank in 2025
- #573 girls, up 226 places since 2020
- Babies in 2025
- 523girls
- Girls and boys
- Almost always a girl’s name2021–2025
- Peak year
- 19151,784 babies
- Total since 1880
- 56,569babies recorded
What does the name Estelle mean?
Estelle is a French name that Wiktionary traces to Occitan estela, star, from Latin stella. Wiktionary notes it was the name of a third-century martyr, and that French étoile and Latin stella are related words. DMNES records the plain Latin form Stella as a medieval name. Estelle has been used in the US since records began in 1880. Estella is a Latin-looking variant, and Stella and Spanish Estrella come from the same Latin word.
estela (Occitan, “star”)stēlla (Latin, “star”)
How sure is this? Well established.
Related names: Estella, Stella, Estrella, Stelle.
See also: Latin names, names that mean sky, star, moon or sun.
Sources for this meaning
- Wiktionary, entry 'Estelle' (English section), Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0; facts restated, no text reused)
- Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources, ed. S. L. Uckelman, Edition 2023 no. 1, s.v. 'Stella', DMNES (Durham University)
- US Social Security Administration, national baby-name data 1880-2025 (yob*.txt), team3 computation of first year recorded, US Social Security Administration (public domain)
Nicknames for Estelle
The usual nicknames for Estelle are Stella. Some parents skip the long form: for every 100 girls named Estelle in the last five years, 1036 were named Stella, against 972 twenty years earlier.
| Nickname | Kind | Rank 2025 | Girls, 5 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stella · also for Estella | Traditional | #52 | 22,450 |
Nicknames reviewed by our editors; counts are girls given the nickname as their legal first name. Nobody records how many Estelles go by each one.
Estelle popularity since 1880
A few boys are given the name too: 159 since 1894.
| Year | Rank (girls) | Babies (girls) |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #573 | 523 |
| 2020 | #799 | 340 |
| 2010 | #1,438 | 158 |
| 2000 | #2,438 | 63 |
| 1990 | #3,176 | 35 |
| 1980 | #2,022 | 52 |
| 1970 | #1,507 | 66 |
| 1960 | #834 | 153 |
| 1950 | #537 | 240 |
| 1940 | #324 | 385 |
| 1930 | #209 | 872 |
| 1920 | #158 | 1,460 |
| 1910 | #112 | 749 |
| 1900 | #118 | 556 |
| 1890 | #134 | 277 |
| 1880 | #134 | 119 |
How popular is Estelle, counting every spelling?
Estelle is the most common spelling of a name family that ranked #577 for girls in 2025 once every spelling is counted together, compared with #573 for Estelle on its own. Together these spellings went to 523 girls in 2025.
| Spelling | Babies 2025 | Official rank | Babies 2021–2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Estelle | 523 | #573 | 2,168 |
Spellings count together when they sound the same in American English and are used for the same sex; nicknames and forms that sound different (such as Theo and Theodore) are kept apart. How we group spellings.
How many kids will share the name Estelle?
523 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Estelle (0.14 per 1,000 births). For a girl named Estelle born in 2025, the chance that another child with the same name is in a class of 20 children the same age is under 1 in 50. If every grade liked the name as much as the 2025 babies do, only about one elementary school in 16 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Estelle.
Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.
How old are people named Estelle?
About 13,200 people born in the US named Estelle are alive today, with a median age of 33; half are between 9 and 75. That makes Estelle mostly worn by adults in their thirties to fifties. The wide spread shows a name popular in two different eras.
Babies given the name each year (SSA) times the share of that birth year still alive (SSA life tables). Counts people born in the US only. Method.
Estelle by state
How common Estelle was among girls born in each state in 2021–2025. It is notably more common than nationally in Minnesota (3.2×), Louisiana (2.3×), Wisconsin (2.2×), Michigan (2.0×), Washington (2.0×). It is least common, relative to the national rate, in Alabama, Nevada, Kentucky.
Names with a similar history
These names rose and fell in step with Estelle: their share of US girls followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Estelle, they share its era and feel.
Questions about the name Estelle
What does Estelle mean?
Estelle means “star” (Occitan, French, Latin origin). Certainty: well established.
How popular is the name Estelle?
Estelle was the 573rd most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 523 babies. Its best year was 1911, when it ranked 106th; the most babies were born in 1915 (1,784). Over the last ten years it has moved up 243 places. More babies were named Estelle in the 1910s than in any other decade.
Is Estelle a boy or girl name?
In 2021–2025, almost always a girl’s name given the name Estelle in the US.
Where is Estelle most popular?
In 2021–2025, Estelle was most common in Minnesota (0.86 per 1,000 girls), followed by Louisiana and Wisconsin.