Estrellita
Feminine · “Spanish estrellita”
Estrellita is a song before it is a name. Manuel Ponce wrote it in 1912, it became one of the most widely played Mexican pieces in the world, and violinists have been performing it ever since without most audiences knowing whose it is.
How old is the name Estrellita?
Estrellita first appears in US birth records in 1941 — 84 years ago. The typical Estrellita alive today was born around 1994, making them about 31 years old. About 1,100 people named Estrellita are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Estrellita most popular?
Estrellita peaked in 1951, reaching #3106 nationally. Today it ranks #10107, 7,001 places below that high. See the whole 1951 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From stella to Estrellita
The story of Estrellita
Ponce was a serious composer, trained in Mexico and later in Paris, who spent much of his career arguing that Mexican folk material belonged in the concert hall. Estrellita, written in 1912, escaped him almost immediately: it was arranged for violin by Jascha Heifetz, recorded endlessly, and treated by much of the world as an anonymous folk tune, which cost Ponce both credit and royalties for years. The word itself is an ordinary Spanish diminutive, and Spanish forms them freely, so estrella gives estrellita, and casa gives casita. That easy diminutive is one of the reasons Spanish naming produces so many affectionate full names: what English can only do with a nickname, Spanish can do inside the word, and a diminutive can go on the birth certificate without looking like one.
Meaning
Spanish estrellita, little star
From Spanish estrella, a star, with the diminutive -ita, so little star. The song of that name was composed by Manuel Ponce in 1912 and is one of the best known Mexican art songs. The American peak is 1951.
How the name formed
- stella
- estrella
- Estrellita
Related forms: Estrella · Stellina · Stella
Pronouncing Estrellita
es-treh-YEE-tah
Four syllables, stress on the third. The double l is said as a y across most of the Spanish-speaking world.
Nicknames for Estrellita
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1941
- Most girls named
- 200734 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3106reached in 1951
- Change vs 2023
- −40.0%9 in 2025, from 15
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Estrellita in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Estrella in Spanish — related form
- Stellina in Italian — related form
- Stella in Latin — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas.
Estrellitas among us
people named Estrellita are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 178,585 born in 2025 was named Estrellita
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Sheldon test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Estrellita's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Sheldon climbed just as high around 1936, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Sheldon's path sketches the road Estrellita is walking now.
Estrellita sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Estrellita beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Estrellita in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Estrella and Lita are two shorter forms already in use.
- The meaning is a plain word and the diminutive is regular.
- The song behind it is internationally known.
- Four syllables is long before a surname.
- English speakers mispronounce the double l.
- It is a diminutive, which some settings will notice.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Estrellita to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Estrellita? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Estrellita
Feminine · #10107 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Estrellitas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,100 people named Estrellita are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Estrellita in 2025?
- Estrellita ranks #10107 among US girl names in 2025, with 9 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Estrellita?
- About 1 in every 178,585 US girls born in 2025 was named Estrellita — 9 in all.
- Will my child share the name Estrellita with classmates?
- Estrellita will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Estrellita
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Berta#10107 · Jettie#10107 · Maye#10107 · Osa#10107 · Fidelia#10107 · Alysa#10107 · Su#10107 · Willie#10107
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Estrellita? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Estrellita and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle