Stirling
Masculine
Stirling is given to both — 851 boys and 78 girls since 1880. See other names given to both
Stirling is a Scottish town at the lowest bridging point of the Forth — which made it, for centuries, the gate between the Highlands and the south.
How old is the name Stirling?
Stirling first appears in US birth records in 1912 — 113 years ago. The typical Stirling alive today was born around 1997, making them about 28 years old. About 700 people named Stirling are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Stirling most popular?
Stirling peaked in 1942, reaching #1867 nationally. Today it ranks #4396, 2,529 places below that high. See the whole 1942 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Stirling
Stirling sits where the Forth stopped being crossable by ship and started being crossable by bridge, which made it the strategic key to Scotland — Wallace won at Stirling Bridge in 1297 and Bannockburn was fought within sight of the castle. The name's own meaning is lost. The surname reached America with Scottish emigration and its use as a given name appears from the 1920s.
Meaningscholars disagree
Not established
The town's name has no settled derivation; readings from Brittonic and from a personal name have both been offered. The word sterling, for silver of a fixed standard, is a separate word and is not from the town.
Pronouncing Stirling
STUR-ling
Two syllables, first stressed. Stirling and Sterling are said identically.
Nicknames for Stirling
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
- 1912
- Most boys named
- 201524 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1867reached in 1942
- Change vs 2023
- +9.5%23 in 2025, from 21
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.
Stirling in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Stirling in Scots — same name
- Sterling in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: California.
Stirlings among us
people named Stirling are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 74,264 born in 2025 was named Stirling
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 Erskin test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Stirling's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Erskin climbed just as high around 1914, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Erskin's path sketches the road Stirling is walking now.
Stirling 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
Stirling beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Stirling in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A real town of genuinely decisive strategic history behind it.
- Read correctly on sight by every English speaker.
- It carries Scottish identity clearly, which is the point for the families who use it.
- Sterling with an e is far more common in America and means the silver standard.
- The town's own meaning is genuinely unknown.
- It reads as a surname to people meeting it in front of another one.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Stirling
Masculine · #4396 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Stirlings are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Stirling are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Stirling in 2025?
- Stirling ranks #4396 among US boy names in 2025, with 23 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Stirling?
- About 1 in every 74,264 US boys born in 2025 was named Stirling — 23 in all.
- Will my child share the name Stirling with classmates?
- Stirling will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Stirling
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Odell#4396 · Corwin#4396 · Tennyson#4396 · Marques#4396 · Manu#4396 · Omid#4396 · Zackariah#4396 · Burton#4396
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Stirling? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Stirling and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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