Sterlin
Masculine · “Old English steorra”
Sterling silver is 92.5 per cent silver, and the word appears to come from a star. Early Norman pennies carried a small star, and a steorling, a little star, became the name of the coin, then of the alloy, then of the currency.
How old is the name Sterlin?
Sterlin first appears in US birth records in 1916 — 109 years ago. The typical Sterlin alive today was born around 1989, making them about 36 years old. About 600 people named Sterlin are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Sterlin most popular?
Sterlin peaked in 1947, reaching #2076 nationally. Today it ranks #10695, 8,619 places below that high. See the whole 1947 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From steorling to Sterlin
The story of Sterlin
The English penny of the twelfth century was struck from a fixed alloy of about ninety-two and a half per cent silver, and it held that standard so consistently that the word for the coin became the word for the standard. A pound of that silver made two hundred and forty pennies, which is where the old pound of twenty shillings and twelve pence comes from: the currency was originally a weight. The star on some early coins gives the most widely accepted etymology, though a rival explanation, that the word comes from Easterlings, merchants from the Baltic and north Germany with a reputation for reliable coin, circulated for centuries and is still sometimes repeated. The surname and given name came from the word, and the American respelling drops the g.
Meaningscholars disagree
Old English steorra, a star
Sterling is generally derived from Old English steorra, a star, with a diminutive ending, from the star stamped on early Norman English pennies. Other derivations, including one from the Easterlings, north German traders, are older and less favored. Sterlin is an American respelling; its peak is 1947.
How the name formed
- steorling
- Sterling
- Sterlin
Related forms: Sterling · Stirling
Pronouncing Sterlin
STUR-lin
Two syllables, stress on the first. Sterling and Sterlin are homophones in most American speech; the g is barely sounded in either.
Nicknames for Sterlin
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
- 1916
- Most boys named
- 199320 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2076reached in 1947
- Change vs 2023
- +20.0%6 in 2025, from 5
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.
Sterlin in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Sterling in English — spelling variant
- Stirling in English — related form
Sterlins among us
people named Sterlin are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 284,679 born in 2025 was named Sterlin
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Sterlin
- #10695
- Sterlin on the 2025 chart
- #917
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Sterlin went to 6 boys in 2025, but Sterlyn is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 11, which makes it the 917th most-given boys’ name of the year — 9,778 places above the chart.
- Sterlin6
- Sterlyn5
About 1 boy in 155,280 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 284,679 for Sterlin itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Lynford test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Sterlin's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Lynford climbed just as high around 1926, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Lynford's path sketches the road Sterlin is walking now.
Sterlin 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
Sterlin beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Sterlin in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The word behind it means a guaranteed standard, which is unusually concrete.
- Two syllables with a firm opening.
- Sterling is available as the standard spelling.
- Sterling is far more common and will be written instead.
- The dropped g reads as an error to many.
- The 1947 peak dates this form.
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Sterlin
Masculine · #10695 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Sterlins are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Sterlin are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Sterlin?
- Sterlin is the most-used spelling in US records — 6 of the 11 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Sterlyn.
- How popular is the name Sterlin in 2025?
- Sterlin ranks #10695 among US boy names in 2025, with 6 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Sterlin?
- About 1 in every 284,679 US boys born in 2025 was named Sterlin — 6 in all.
- Will my child share the name Sterlin with classmates?
- Sterlin will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Sterlin
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Dudley#10695 · Dell#10695 · Buford#10695 · Toney#10695 · Allison#10695 · Candido#10695 · Jodie#10695 · Nora#10695
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Sterlin? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Sterlin and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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