Starr
A gender-neutral name derived from the celestial object representing an illuminating body in the night sky.
Name Census estimates that about 8,743 living Americans carry the first name Starr. It is a predominantly female name (96.8% of registrations). The average person named Starr today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Starr births was 1997 (307 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Starr. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Starr with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Starr is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 324 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
8.7K
~ 1 in 39,203 Americans
Peak year
1997
307 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
2005 SSA rank
#2,546
Tracked since 1914
Census
Starr in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 7,819 people with the first name Starr, which placed it at #2,911 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
#2,911
National first-name rank
People counted
7.8K
7,819 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
56.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Starr
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Starr is White at 56.2%. The next largest groups are Black (25.4%) and Hispanic (9.9%). 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 Starr 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 Starr at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White56.2% · 4,396
- Black or African American25.4% · 1,987
- Hispanic or Latino9.9% · 771
- Two or more races5.7% · 443
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.5% · 116
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 106
Gender
Gender distribution for Starr
Starr leans heavily female at 96.8% of total registrations, but 324 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Starr as a male name
- Ranked #13,091 in 2005
- 5 male births in 2005
- Peak: 1945 (10 births)
Starr as a female name
- Ranked #2,546 in 2024
- 70 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1997 (302 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Starr leans strongly female. 7,556 people counted with this name were female (96.7%), compared with 254 male bearers (3.3%).
Popularity
Starr: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Starr from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 1,604 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Starr 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 Starr during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Starrs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 33 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Starr, while New Mexico, District of Columbia, Alabama recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 165 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Starr
The given name Starr is thought to have originated from the Old English word "steorra," which means "star." This linguistic root can be traced back to the Proto-Germanic word "sterron" and the Proto-Indo-European word "ster," both of which refer to celestial objects in the night sky.
In ancient times, stars held significant symbolic meaning across various cultures. In Greek mythology, stars were believed to be the souls of heroes and great figures who had ascended to the heavens. The name Starr may have been bestowed upon individuals with a connection to astronomy, navigation, or those who were considered exceptional or remarkable.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Starr can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of land ownership in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The name appears as "Sterre," likely referring to a person who studied or had an affinity for the stars.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Starr. One of the most famous was Starr Faithful, an American singer and actress who rose to prominence in the 1920s with her performances on Broadway and in Hollywood films. She was born in 1892 and passed away in 1946.
Another prominent figure was Starr Carter, an English writer and activist who played a significant role in the women's suffrage movement in the early 20th century. Born in 1880, she dedicated her life to advocating for equal rights and was instrumental in securing women's right to vote in the United Kingdom.
In the realm of sports, Starr Hoyt was an American baseball player who played for the New York Yankees in the 1960s. He was born in 1938 and had a successful career as a pitcher, winning numerous accolades and championships.
The name Starr also has a notable presence in the field of science and exploration. Starr Muir, born in 1892, was a Scottish botanist and naturalist who made significant contributions to the study of plant life in the Antarctic region during her expeditions in the early 20th century.
Additionally, Starr Bright, born in 1914, was an American astronomer who played a crucial role in the development of modern astrophysics. Her groundbreaking research on stellar evolution and the composition of stars earned her numerous honors and awards.
People
Starr + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Starr 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
Starr: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Starr?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 8,743 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Starr 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 39,203 US residents.
Is Starr a common name?
We classify Starr as "Rare". It ranks above 97.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 10,100 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Starr most popular?
The single biggest year for Starr was 1997, when 307 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Starr is about 39 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Starr in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 7,819 people with the name Starr, or 2.59 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,911 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 Starr 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 Starr?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Starr leans strongly female. 7,556 people counted with this name were female (96.7%), compared with 254 male bearers (3.3%). 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 Starr?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Starr is White at 56.2%. The next largest groups are Black (25.4%) and Hispanic (9.9%). 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 Starr most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Starr in the 2020 Census, accounting for 56.2% (4,396 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 Starr in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Starr a female name?
Yes, 96.8% of people registered as Starr 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 Starr still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Starr 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 Starr 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 people share the name Starr?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.