Stella (given name)

Stella
	L'Étoile Polaire, part of a 1902 Art Nouveau decorative panel by Alfons Mucha.
Pronunciation	/ˈstɛlə/ STEL-ə
Gender	Female
Origin
Meaning	star in Latin; pillar in Greek.
Other names
Related names	Stelios, Stylianos, Estelle, Estella

Stella is a female given name. It is derived from the Latin word for star.^[1]^[2] It has been in use in English-speaking countries since it was first used by Philip Sidney in Astrophel and Stella, his 1580s sonnet sequence. Use might also have increased due to Stella Maris as a title for the Virgin Mary by Catholics.^[3] Alternately, it is a feminine version of the Greek name Stylianos, meaning pillar.^[4]

Popularity

Stella has been well-used in countries where Germanic and Romance languages are spoken: England and Italy themselves, and especially Anglophone Africa and Latin America.^[5]^[6]

List of people with the given name Stella

Arts and entertainment

Stella, stage name of Stella Huang, Singaporean singer-actress
Stella Abrera (born 1978), Filipino-American ballet dancer
Stella Adler (1901–1992), American actress and acting teacher
Stella Arbenina (1884–1976), Russian-born actress
Stella Bennett or Benee (born 2000), New Zealand singer-songwriter
Stella Benson (1892–1933), English feminist, travel writer, and novelist
Stella Blandy (1836–1925), French woman of letters, feminist
Stella Bowen (1893–1947), Australian artist
Stella Brennan (born 1974), New Zealand artist, curator, and essayist
Stella Chitty (1928–2005), British stage manager
Stella Chiweshe (1946–2023), Zimbabwean musician
Stella Corkery (born 1960), New Zealand artist and musician
Stella Dadzie (born 1952), British writer, historian, educationalist and activist
Stella Feehily (born 1969), London-born Irish playwright and actress
Stella Miles Franklin (1879–1954), Australian novelist
Stella Jones (singer) (born 1971), German soul and jazz singer, pianist, arranger and composer
Stella Keitel, American actress
Stella Kon (born 1944), Singaporean playwright
Stella Weiner Kriegshaber (1879–1966), American pianist
Stella LeSaint (1881–1948), American silent film actress
Stella Linden (1919–2005), actress and writer
Stella Madden, English actress
Stella Maessen (born 1953), Dutch singer
Stella Maeve (born 1989), American actress
Stella Malucchi (born 1977), Thai model and actress
Stella Maxwell (born 1990), Northern Irish model
Stella Meghie, Canadian film director and screenwriter
Stella De Mette (1891–1989), American contralto opera singer
Stella Moray (1923–2006), English actress
Stella Mwangi (born 1986), Norwegian-Kenyan singer
Stella Parton (born 1949), American country music singer/songwriter, sister of Dolly Parton
Stella Pevsner (1921–2020), author of children's books
Stella Reid (born 1964), co-star of the Fox network reality television show Nanny 911
Stella Richman (1922–2002), British television producer
Stella Roman (1904–1992), Romanian operatic soprano
Stella Seah (born 1992), Singaporean singer-songwriter
Stella Soleil (born 1971), American pop and rock singer
Stella Stevens (1934–2023), American model and actress born Estelle Eggleston
Stella Steyn (1907–1987), Irish artist
Stella Stocker (1858–1925), American composer and choral conductor
Stella Stratigou (1931–2005), Greek actress
Stella Vander (born 1950), French singer and musician
Stella Vine (born 1969), English artist

Sports

Stella Ashcroft (born 2002), gymnast from New Zealand
Stella Barsosio (born 1993), Kenyan long-distance runner
Stella Boumi (born 1988), Greek swimmer
Stella Heiß (born 1993), German curler
Stella de Heij (born 1968), Dutch field hockey goalkeeper
Stela Posavec (born 1996), Croatian handball player
Stella Pilatou (born 1980), Greek long jumper
Stella Rutto (born 1996), Romanian steeplechaser
Stella Tsikouna (born 1972), Greek discus thrower
Stella Zakharova (born 1963), Olympic gymnast for the former Soviet Union

Politics

Stella Ambler (born 1966), Canadian politician
Stella Creasy (born 1977), British Member of Parliament
Stella Dupont (born 1973), French Member of Parliament
Stella Garza-Hicks (born 1953), former Republican legislator in the U.S. state of Colorado
Stella Goldschlag (1922–1994), German Jewish woman who collaborated with the Gestapo during World War II
Stella Gherman (born 1974), Moldovan Member of Parliament
Stella Isaacs, Marchioness of Reading (1894–1971), British political and military figure
Stella Jantuan (born 1966), Moldovan politician
Stella Levy (1924–1999), Israeli soldier and politician
Stella Oduah-Ogiemwonyi (born 1962), Nigerian Minister of Aviation
Stella Maris Olalla (born 1943), Argentine politician
Stella Omu (born 1946), Nigerian politician
Stella Sigcau (1937–2006), Minister in the South African government and first female Prime Minister of the Transkei

Other

Stella Baruk (born 1932), Iranian-born French teacher, mathematician, author and educationalist
Stella Burry (1897–1991), Canadian activist
Stella Cunliffe (1917–2012), British statistician
Stella Din-Jacob, Nigerian media executive, broadcast journalist, lawyer and Director of News at TVC Communications
Stella Immanuel (born 1965), Cameroonian-American physician, author, and pastor
Stella Koutros, American cancer epidemiologist
Stella Liebeck, American plaintiff in the "McDonald's coffee case"
Stella Manzie (born 1960), British public servant and civil servant
Stella Márquez (born 1937), Colombian beauty queen and first Miss International
Stella Mary Newton (1901–2001), English fashion designer and dress historian
Stella Mason (c.1901?–1918), Muscogee/Creek freedman, subject to a known lawsuit over an estate
Stella Maxwell (born 1990), Northern Irish fashion model
Stella McCartney (born 1971), British fashion designer
Stella Nickell (born 1943), American murderer
Stella Nyanzi (born 1974), Ugandan human rights activist
Stella Obasanjo (1945–2005), former First Lady of Nigeria
Stella Rimington (1935–2025), British author and Director General of MI5 (1992–1996)
Stella Ross-Craig (1906–2006), British botanic illustrator
Stella de Silva (1918–2012), paediatrician from Sri Lanka
Stella Hackel Sims (born 1926), Director of the United States Mint from 1977 to 1981
Stella Tennant (1970–2020), Scottish model
Stella Tillyard (born 1957), British author and historian
Stella Young (1982–2014), Australian comedian, journalist and disability rights activist

Fictional characters

Stella (Winx Club), one of the main characters of Winx Club
Stella a female snow goose who is Boris' girlfriend and appears in Balto III: Wings of Change
Stella, female protagonist of an anime movie Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem
Stella of the Ars Goetia, a character in the animated series Helluva Boss, voiced by Georgina Leahy
Stella Bains, a character from the movie Back to the Future
Stella Bonasera, character in CSI: NY
Stella Bonnaro, character in Cowboy Bebop
Stella Chernak, character in the TV drama Peyton Place
Stella the Storyteller, fictional character from the TV series Barney & Friends
Stella Crawford, character in the BBC soap opera EastEnders
Stella Dagostino, character in Rush
Stella Grayber, a character in Poppy Playtime
Stella Kidd, character in the TV drama “Chicago Fire”
Stella Kowalski, character in the play A Streetcar Named Desire
Stella Loussier, character in the anime Gundam SEED Destiny
Stella Malone, character in the Disney Channel series Jonas
Stella Mann (television character), character in the German soap opera Verbotene Liebe (Forbidden Love)
Stella Maynard, character in Anne of the Island
Stella Moon, character in the Scottish BBC drama TV series Monarch of the Glen
Stella Morris, title character of Sky One series Stella
Stella Mudd, wife of Harcourt Fenton "Harry" Mudd. from Star Trek "I, Mudd"
Stella Price, character in the British soap opera Coronation Street
Stella Nicholls, protagonist of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark
Stella Shortman, a character from Nickelodeon's Hey Arnold!
Stella Takachiho, a character in the Revue Starlight franchise
Stella Urquhart, character in the 1983 film Local Hero
Stella Vermillion, a mage knight from Chivalry of a Failed Knight
Stella Zhau, from the American animated series The Loud House
Stella, the ideal woman in the work of Norwegian poet Henrik Wergeland
Stella is the name of the Glinda analogue in The Wizard of the Emerald City series by Alexander Volkov
Stella, a female Galah in the Angry Birds series including the spin-off Angry Birds Stella
Stella Klauser, a non-playable character in Final Fantasy V
Queen Stella, a non-playable character in Final Fantasy IX
Stella, a non-playable character in Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon
Stella, a supporting character in Totally Spies! in which she is the mother of super spy Clover
Stella, a character in the 2006 film Over the Hedge
Stella, one of the main characters in the series Trulli Tales
Stella, the guardian of the Sparkle Theater in Princess Peach: Showtime!
Stella the Star Fairy, a character from the Rainbow Magic book franchise
Stella, the main protagonist of the video game Spiritfarer

Name day

Hungary : 14 July
Latvia : 25 December^[7]
Bulgaria : 26 November
Czech Republic : 4 March
Italy : 11 May
Sweden : 15 August
France : 11 May

References

^ "Meaning, origin and history of the name Stella (1)".
^ "Stella | Etymology, origin and meaning of the name stella by etymonline".
^ Hanks, Patrick; Hardcastle, Kate; Hodges, Flavia (2006). Oxford Dictionary of First Names. Oxford University Press. p. 252. ISBN 0-19-861060-2.
^ "Meaning, origin and history of the name Stylianos".
^ "Stella Name Meaning, Origins & Popularity".
^ "Meaning, origin and history of the name Stella (1)".
^ "Decembris 2016". Kalendārs. Vārda dienas. Retrieved 26 December 2016.