Stella

Etymology

The strongest historical evidence points to an English locational surname from Stella in Durham, recorded in medieval forms such as Stellinge and related spellings. One old analysis treats the place-name as going back to an Old English family name plus a word for a lea or meadow, though the exact reconstruction is uncertain. A secondary explanation, found in older surname books, is that some bearers may derive from a personal name meaning “star,” from Latin or from a nickname based on that sense.

History

Medieval records show Stella as a place-based byname in northern England, especially in Durham, and later surname lists also note it in other English counties. Because “stella” is the Latin word for “star,” later writers sometimes linked the surname to a baptismal or descriptive nickname as well. The form is relatively uncommon in Britain and the United States, where it is now a rare surname.

Origin

Regions

Variant spellings

Fun fact

Older surname writers even glossed Stella as “the son of Star,” showing how strongly the star-word sense influenced interpretations of the name.

Related surnames