Given name & surname
Estella
“resembling a star”
Estella is used as a given name and a surname. One Latin interpretation is “resembling a star.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One Latin interpretation is “resembling a star.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Latin.
How it developed
In English usage, Estella developed from Estelle.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1880. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin. In English use, Estella has a related form in Estelle. The history of Estelle gives this family its wider story. Estelle experienced a revival in the 19th century.
Combines direct and name-family evidence
Estella through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 42,975
- 55 boys · 42,920 girls
- Most popular year
- 1921
- 638 babies
- 2025
- 581
- #509 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +57%
- Rising fast
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 581 U.S. birth records for girls, ranking No. 509 among girls’ names. Average annual use for girls was 57.2% higher in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for girls was 638 in 1921. In 2025, California and Texas shared the largest reported state-level birth count for girls with this name (64 each). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 17,555 as a first name in 2020; 481 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Estella’s family of names
In English usage, Estella developed from the French form Estelle. In French usage, Estella has a related form in Stella. Estella has a related form in Estela.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 12
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
- Stellavariant · French
- Estellevariant · English, French
- Estrellavariant
- Estelavariant
- Essievariant
- Esteevariant
- Estrellitavariant
- Estralitavariant
Show 4 moreShow fewer
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 3
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Estella
- Estella WarrenCanadian actress, model, and synchronized swimmerborn 1978
- Estella AgsteribbeDutch gymnast (1909–1943)
- Estella CanzianiBritish portrait and landscape painter, an interior decorator and a travel writer and folklorist (1887-1964)
- Estella Marie ThompsonAmerican television personality and former prostituteborn 1969
- Estella Hijmans-HertzveldDutch author, feminist (1837–1881)
- Estella LeopoldAmerican botanist (1927-2024)
- Estella AtekwanaAmerican geophysicist
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Appears in
Similar names
If you love Estella, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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