Starla
Feminine · “star”
Starla is a star with an American ending. English has had the word since Old English, and the -la ending has been attached to nouns and short names in the United States for a century, producing Starla, Marla, Darla and Carla in the same decades and often in the same families.
How old is the name Starla?
Starla first appears in US birth records in 1942 — 83 years ago. The typical Starla alive today was born around 1978, making them about 47 years old. About 7,700 people named Starla are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Starla most popular?
Starla peaked in 1966, reaching #698 nationally. Today it ranks #5099, 4,401 places below that high. See the whole 1966 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From steorra to Starla
The story of Starla
American families in the middle of the twentieth century made women's names by adding -la, -lene and -ene to nouns and short names, and the results appear in the records in clusters: Starla, Marla, Darla, Charla and Verla within a decade of each other. Star names came into wider use in the same period, alongside Estelle and Stella, both of which mean the same thing in French and Latin. Starla is the plainest of them and the most American.
Meaning
star
Old English steorra, a star, with a modern American ending that carries no meaning of its own. The word has cognates across the Germanic and Latin languages and is one of the oldest in the language.
How the name formed
- steorra
- star
- Starla
Related forms: Stella · Estelle
Pronouncing Starla
STAR-luh
Two syllables, stress in front. There is no other reading in English.
Nicknames for Starla
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
- 1942
- Most girls named
- 1981218 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #698reached in 1966
- Change vs 2023
- −49.0%25 in 2025, from 49
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.
Starla in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Stella in Latin — related form
- Estelle in French — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.
Starlas among us
people named Starla are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 64,291 born in 2025 was named Starla
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 Wynona test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Starla's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Wynona climbed just as high around 1930, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Wynona's path sketches the road Starla is walking now.
Starla 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
Where Starla is headed
Starla should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Starla beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Starla in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The meaning is a single word that any child can be shown in the sky.
- Star works as a short form and is a complete name on its own.
- Everyone can spell it and say it after hearing it once.
- The -la ending places the name firmly in the middle of the last century.
- Starla, Starlah and Starlla all appear, so the spelling is occasionally asked for.
- Stella and Estelle mean the same thing and read as more formal.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Starla to the vote.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Starla
Feminine · #5099 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Starlas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 7,700 people named Starla are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Starla in 2025?
- Starla ranks #5099 among US girl names in 2025, with 25 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Starla?
- About 1 in every 64,291 US girls born in 2025 was named Starla — 25 in all.
- Will my child share the name Starla with classmates?
- Starla will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Starla
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Janette#5099 · Loraine#5099 · Delfina#5099 · Hali#5099 · Mecca#5099 · Zoi#5099 · Afia#5099 · Emelie#5099
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Starla? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Starla and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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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
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