Starlette
A feminine name combining "star" with the French diminutive suffix "-ette".
Name Census estimates that about 631 living Americans carry the first name Starlette. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Starlette today is around 41 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Starlette births was 1982 (21 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Starlette. 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
631
~ 1 in 543,192 Americans
Peak year
1982
21 babies that year
Average age
41
years old
2024 SSA rank
#14,994
Tracked since 1943
Popularity
Starlette: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Starlette from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 144 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1960s peak, Starlette remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Starlette 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 Starlette during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Starlettes live
Origin
Meaning and history of Starlette
The name Starlette is a modern invention, likely created in the English-speaking world in the 20th century. It is a feminine form of the word "star," which has its origins in the Proto-Indo-European root "ster," meaning "star." The name Starlette is a combination of the English word "star" and the French diminutive suffix "-ette," meaning "little."
While the name Starlette does not have a long historical tradition, it reflects the fascination with celestial bodies and the desire to name children after these awe-inspiring celestial objects. The name may have been inspired by the growing interest in space exploration and the fascination with stars and the cosmos in the mid-20th century.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Starlette can be found in the 1959 film "Some Like It Hot," where Marilyn Monroe played the character of Sugar "Starlette" Cane. This exposure in a popular Hollywood film likely contributed to the name's popularity in the following decades.
Another notable Starlette was Starlette Miariaunii, a French actress and model born in 1973. She appeared in several French films and television shows in the 1990s and early 2000s.
In the literary world, Starlette is the name of a character in the novel "The Prince of Tides" by Pat Conroy, published in 1986. This further popularized the name in the English-speaking world.
An early recorded use of the name Starlette can be found in the United States Social Security records, where a Starlette was born in 1939. However, the name did not gain significant popularity until the latter half of the 20th century.
While the name Starlette may not have a long historical tradition, it reflects the modern fascination with celestial bodies and the desire to give children unique and evocative names. Its use in popular culture and literature has contributed to its recognition and appeal.
People
Starlette + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Starlette as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with S
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Starlette: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Starlette?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 631 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Starlette 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 543,192 US residents.
Is Starlette a common name?
We classify Starlette as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 714 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Starlette most popular?
The single biggest year for Starlette was 1982, when 21 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Starlette is about 41 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Starlette a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Starlette 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.
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.