How Many People Are Named Sterling?
An estimated 30,937 people in the United States have the first name Sterling. It is predominantly male (91.2%). The average bearer is 32 years old, and Sterling peaked in popularity in 2024 with 1,098 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Sterling as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Sterling paired with any surname.
Estimated Living Americans
30,937
About 1 in 11,079 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Uncommon
Predicted Gender
Male
91.2% confidence
Average Age
32
years old
Peak Year
2024
1,098 births
Total Registered
40,025
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Sterling
Sterling is predominantly male (91.2%), though 3,504 female births have been registered. It functions as a unisex name for a small percentage of bearers.
Sterling as a male name
Ranked #372 in 2024
880 male births in 2024
Peak: 2024 (880 births)
Sterling as a female name
Ranked #1,117 in 2024
218 female births in 2024
Peak: 2024 (218 births)
Sterling: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Sterling span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 2010s, when 6,397 babies were registered. While Sterling is less common than at its peak in the 2010s, it remains a well-established name with steady registrations.
Sterling by Decade
How has Sterling tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
| Decade | Total | Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 168 | 168 | 0 | |
| 1890s | 233 | 233 | 0 | |
| 1900s | 352 | 352 | 0 | |
| 1910s | 1,622 | 1,608 | 14 | |
| 1920s | 2,580 | 2,533 | 47 | |
| 1930s | 1,930 | 1,904 | 26 | |
| 1940s | 2,383 | 2,334 | 49 | |
| 1950s | 2,597 | 2,570 | 27 | |
| 1960s | 2,544 | 2,496 | 48 | |
| 1970s | 2,183 | 2,072 | 111 | |
| 1980s | 3,224 | 2,967 | 257 | |
| 1990s | 5,278 | 4,709 | 569 | |
| 2000s | 3,576 | 3,027 | 549 | |
| 2010s | 6,397 | 5,463 | 934 | |
| 2020s | 4,958 | 4,085 | 873 | |
Sterling by State
Birth registrations for Sterling span all 49 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in Texas, California, Pennsylvania. The lowest are in Vermont, New Hampshire, Wyoming. On average, about 651 Sterlings were registered per state.
Sterling + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Sterling as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Sterling
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
Sterling: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sterling?
We estimate approximately 30,937 people named Sterling are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 11,079 Americans share this first name.
Is Sterling a common name?
Sterling is classified as "Uncommon" and is more popular than 98.8% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 40,025 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Sterling most popular?
Sterling reached peak popularity in 2024, when 1,098 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Sterling is approximately 32 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Sterling a male name?
Sterling is predominantly male. 91.2% of people with this name are male. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Sterling Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Sterling Smith, Sterling Johnson, Sterling Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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