Morningstar
A given name referring to the bright light of the morning star, Venus.
Name Census estimates that about 187 living Americans carry the first name Morningstar. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Morningstar today is around 30 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Morningstar births was 2011 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Morningstar. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
187
~ 1 in 1,832,911 Americans
Peak year
2011
11 babies that year
Average age
30
years old
2022 SSA rank
#16,974
Tracked since 1973
Census
Morningstar in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 251 people with the first name Morningstar, which placed it at #33,109 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#33,109
National first-name rank
People counted
251
251 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
American Indian and Alaska Native
47.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Morningstar
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Morningstar is American Indian/Alaska Native at 47.4%. The next largest groups are White (21.1%) and Two or More Races (12.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Morningstar described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Morningstar at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- American Indian and Alaska Native47.4% · 119
- White21.1% · 53
- Two or more races12.0% · 30
- Hispanic or Latino11.2% · 28
- Black or African American6.8% · 17
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.6% · 4
Popularity
Morningstar: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Morningstar from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 46 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Morningstar by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Morningstar during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Morningstar
The given name Morningstar has its origins in the English language, derived from the celestial object known as the "morning star" or "day star," referring to the planet Venus when it appears in the eastern sky just before sunrise. This name's roots can be traced back to the Old English word "morgenstern," which was a compound of the words "morgen" (morning) and "steorra" (star).
In ancient times, the morning star was a significant celestial body, often associated with various deities and mythological figures across different cultures. In Greek mythology, it was linked to Phosphorus, the personification of the morning star. Similarly, in Roman mythology, it was associated with Lucifer, the "light-bearer," who was later equated with the fallen angel in Christian tradition.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Morningstar can be found in the Bible's Book of Revelation, where it is used as a symbolic reference to Jesus Christ. In Revelation 22:16, Jesus declares, "I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star."
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Morningstar. One of the earliest recorded examples is Lucifer Morningstar (c. 1330 - c. 1400), an English knight and military commander during the Hundred Years' War. Another prominent figure was John Morningstar (1623 - 1693), a Dutch-American settler and landowner in colonial New York.
In the realm of literature, John Milton's epic poem "Paradise Lost" (1667) features the character of Lucifer, the fallen angel who is also referred to as the "Morningstar." Additionally, Herman Melville's novel "Moby-Dick" (1851) includes a character named Starbuck, which some scholars believe may have been derived from the Morning Star.
Other notable individuals with the name Morningstar include Alice Morningstar (1823 - 1892), an American women's rights activist and abolitionist, and William Morningstar (1868 - 1941), a Canadian politician and member of the House of Commons.
It is worth noting that while the name Morningstar has been used throughout history, it has remained relatively uncommon compared to more traditional given names. However, its celestial associations and poetic connotations have contributed to its enduring appeal and unique charm.
People
Morningstar + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Morningstar as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Morningstar: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Morningstar?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 187 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Morningstar going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,832,911 US residents.
Is Morningstar a common name?
We classify Morningstar as "Very Rare". It ranks above 73.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 195 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Morningstar most popular?
The single biggest year for Morningstar was 2011, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Morningstar is about 30 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Morningstar in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 251 people with the name Morningstar, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #33,109 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Morningstar in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Morningstar?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Morningstar leans strongly female. 243 people counted with this name were female (95.7%), compared with 11 male bearers (4.3%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Morningstar?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Morningstar is American Indian/Alaska Native at 47.4%. The next largest groups are White (21.1%) and Two or More Races (12.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Morningstar most often in the Census?
American Indian/Alaska Native is the largest reported group for people named Morningstar in the 2020 Census, accounting for 47.4% (119 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Morningstar in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Morningstar a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Morningstar in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Morningstar still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Morningstar in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Morningstar can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many Americans are named Morningstar?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.