Starling
Starling is given to both girls and boys: 8 girls and 13 boys were given it in 2025 (#11,802 among girls’ names and #6,749 among boys’, #10,225 among all names counting both); 1,226 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Starling by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Starling mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Starling is “a male given name transferred from the surname.”
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Starling?
#6,749 among boys’ names, 2025
Starling rose from #8,638 in 2015 to #6,749 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born rose from 4.7 to 7.6 per million.
32 babies in 2023, the peak
Starling peaked in 2023, when 32 babies were given it (14 boys, #6,458 among boys’ names). The 21 births of 2025 (girls and boys) are 66% of that peak.
Births by sex.
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 8 | #11,802 | 13 | #6,749 |
| 2024 | 6 | #15,038 | 7 | #10,774 |
| 2023 | 18 | #6,637 | 14 | #6,458 |
| 2022 | 9 | #11,132 | under 5 | |
| 2021 | 12 | #8,914 | 6 | #11,941 |
| 2020 | 13 | #8,354 | 6 | #11,830 |
| 2019 | 10 | #10,385 | 5 | #13,866 |
| 2018 | 6 | #15,440 | 8 | #9,541 |
| 2017 | 9 | #11,510 | 5 | #13,977 |
| 2016 | 5 | #18,544 | under 5 |
Every recorded year (110)
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 12 | #9,419 | 9 | #8,638 |
| 2014 | 11 | #10,063 | 5 | #13,786 |
| 2013 | 6 | #16,298 | under 5 | |
| 2012 | 8 | #13,320 | under 5 | |
| 2011 | 8 | #13,202 | 7 | #10,621 |
| 2010 | 8 | #13,313 | 6 | #11,991 |
| 2009 | 5 | #19,835 | 5 | #14,209 |
| 2008 | 7 | #15,198 | 5 | #14,318 |
| 2006 | under 5 | 5 | #13,740 | |
| 2005 | under 5 | 8 | #8,972 | |
| 2003 | 7 | #13,663 | under 5 | |
| 2002 | 10 | #10,139 | under 5 | |
| 2001 | under 5 | 5 | #12,066 | |
| 2000 | under 5 | 9 | #7,313 | |
| 1998 | under 5 | 6 | #9,486 | |
| 1995 | under 5 | 10 | #5,852 | |
| 1994 | under 5 | 6 | #8,655 | |
| 1993 | under 5 | 6 | #8,554 | |
| 1992 | 5 | #15,278 | 7 | #7,287 |
| 1990 | under 5 | 6 | #7,980 | |
| 1989 | under 5 | 6 | #7,779 | |
| 1988 | under 5 | 11 | #4,411 | |
| 1983 | under 5 | 9 | #4,443 | |
| 1981 | under 5 | 5 | #7,140 | |
| 1979 | 5 | #11,700 | 5 | #6,946 |
| 1978 | under 5 | 9 | #4,122 | |
| 1976 | under 5 | 6 | #5,508 | |
| 1975 | 5 | #10,369 | under 5 | |
| 1974 | under 5 | 9 | #3,796 | |
| 1973 | under 5 | 9 | #3,658 | |
| 1972 | 6 | #8,113 | 6 | #4,917 |
| 1971 | under 5 | 7 | #4,324 | |
| 1970 | under 5 | 6 | #4,660 | |
| 1969 | under 5 | 7 | #3,893 | |
| 1968 | under 5 | 6 | #4,085 | |
| 1967 | under 5 | 8 | #3,204 | |
| 1965 | 5 | #7,386 | under 5 | |
| 1964 | under 5 | 7 | #3,564 | |
| 1963 | under 5 | 7 | #3,606 | |
| 1962 | under 5 | 6 | #3,983 | |
| 1961 | under 5 | 11 | #2,687 | |
| 1959 | under 5 | 6 | #3,934 | |
| 1957 | under 5 | 15 | #2,182 | |
| 1956 | under 5 | 14 | #2,249 | |
| 1955 | under 5 | 8 | #3,172 | |
| 1954 | under 5 | 12 | #2,427 | |
| 1953 | 5 | #6,406 | 10 | #2,691 |
| 1952 | under 5 | 8 | #3,072 | |
| 1951 | under 5 | 12 | #2,356 | |
| 1950 | 5 | #6,003 | 13 | #2,189 |
| 1949 | under 5 | 16 | #1,931 | |
| 1948 | under 5 | 10 | #2,595 | |
| 1947 | under 5 | 18 | #1,842 | |
| 1946 | under 5 | 14 | #2,019 | |
| 1945 | under 5 | 15 | #1,845 | |
| 1944 | under 5 | 9 | #2,612 | |
| 1943 | under 5 | 14 | #2,062 | |
| 1942 | under 5 | 8 | #2,917 | |
| 1941 | 5 | #5,000 | 7 | #3,103 |
| 1940 | under 5 | 14 | #1,976 | |
| 1939 | under 5 | 10 | #2,428 | |
| 1938 | under 5 | 9 | #2,628 | |
| 1937 | under 5 | 16 | #1,818 | |
| 1936 | under 5 | 9 | #2,600 | |
| 1935 | under 5 | 10 | #2,511 | |
| 1934 | under 5 | 16 | #1,848 | |
| 1933 | under 5 | 15 | #1,894 | |
| 1932 | under 5 | 17 | #1,840 | |
| 1931 | under 5 | 7 | #3,362 | |
| 1930 | 6 | #4,498 | 16 | #1,952 |
| 1929 | under 5 | 11 | #2,574 | |
| 1928 | under 5 | 9 | #3,051 | |
| 1927 | under 5 | 15 | #2,183 | |
| 1926 | under 5 | 9 | #3,113 | |
| 1925 | under 5 | 18 | #1,927 | |
| 1924 | under 5 | 15 | #2,210 | |
| 1923 | under 5 | 17 | #2,012 | |
| 1922 | under 5 | 17 | #2,028 | |
| 1921 | under 5 | 18 | #1,972 | |
| 1920 | under 5 | 26 | #1,497 | |
| 1919 | under 5 | 17 | #1,961 | |
| 1918 | under 5 | 13 | #2,382 | |
| 1917 | under 5 | 19 | #1,746 | |
| 1916 | under 5 | 19 | #1,690 | |
| 1915 | under 5 | 15 | #1,956 | |
| 1914 | under 5 | 11 | #2,086 | |
| 1913 | under 5 | 6 | #2,769 | |
| 1912 | under 5 | 9 | #1,869 | |
| 1911 | under 5 | 8 | #1,369 | |
| 1910 | under 5 | 6 | #1,563 | |
| 1909 | under 5 | 7 | #1,259 | |
| 1908 | under 5 | 13 | #774 | |
| 1902 | under 5 | 5 | #1,296 | |
| 1897 | under 5 | 7 | #931 | |
| 1896 | under 5 | 5 | #1,252 | |
| 1889 | under 5 | 6 | #962 | |
| 1886 | under 5 | 5 | #1,090 | |
| 1885 | under 5 | 7 | #828 | |
| 1881 | under 5 | 6 | #852 | |
| 1880 | under 5 | 5 | #1,043 |
Ranks: girls’ names and boys’ names ranked separately in each year’s SSA file; “under 5” is a year SSA did not list the name for that sex.
Is Starling a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 1,226 Americans recorded as Starling, 18% are girls and 82% boys.
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Starling: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Starling, and how old are they?
An estimated 634 Americans named Starling and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (52% of everyone recorded); the median is 31 years old and half are between 10 and 63. An estimate from SSA’s births and life tables, not a count.
The 2020 Census counted 845 people named Starling (276 women and girls, 569 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 588 born in the U.S. The Census count is 44% above that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Starling
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Starling and names like it
- Compare Starling and JulesBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 2020sStarling peaked in 2023.
- Georgia’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Starling since 1910.
- From surnamesWiktionary’s origin for Starling: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 2023The year the most babies were named Starling.
- The names of Generation AlphaMost people named Starling alive today were born 2013-2025.
- Names starting with SMost given first.