Stori
A feminine name of unknown origin, potentially meaning "history" or "story".
Name Census estimates that about 1,376 living Americans carry the first name Stori. It is a predominantly female name (99.3% of registrations). The average person named Stori today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Stori births was 2024 (165 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Stori. 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 Stori with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Stori is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 11 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.4K
~ 1 in 249,095 Americans
Peak year
2024
165 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2023 SSA rank
#1,372
Tracked since 1971
Census
Stori in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 655 people with the first name Stori, which placed it at #17,018 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
#17,018
National first-name rank
People counted
655
655 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
43.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Stori
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Stori is White at 43.8%. The next largest groups are Black (40.8%) and Two or More Races (7.9%). 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 Stori 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 Stori at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White43.8% · 287
- Black or African American40.8% · 267
- Two or more races7.9% · 52
- Hispanic or Latino5.6% · 37
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 4
Gender
Gender distribution for Stori
Out of the 1,394 babies given the name Stori since 1880, 99.3% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Stori as a male name
- Ranked #13,913 in 2023
- 5 male births in 2023
- Peak: 2021 (5 births)
Stori as a female name
- Ranked #1,372 in 2024
- 165 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (165 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Stori leans strongly female. 647 people counted with this name were female (98.5%), compared with 10 male bearers (1.5%).
Popularity
Stori: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Stori from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 669 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Stori 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 Stori during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Storis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 17 states and territories. New York, Texas, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Stori, while Missouri, District of Columbia, Colorado recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 33 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Stori
The name Stori is believed to have its origins in the Old Norse language, spoken by the Viking and Germanic peoples of Scandinavia during the Middle Ages. The name is derived from the Old Norse word "stórr," meaning "great" or "mighty." This suggests that the name may have initially been used to denote individuals of great strength, power, or importance within their communities.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Stori can be found in the Icelandic Sagas, a collection of historical narratives and literary works from the 13th and 14th centuries. In these texts, the name appears as "Stori," often used as a nickname or byname to describe a person's physical stature or achievements.
Stori gained further recognition in the 16th century with the birth of Stori Andersen (1548-1631), a Danish naval officer and explorer who is credited with leading several expeditions to Greenland and the Arctic regions. His exploits and contributions to the exploration of the Arctic earned him a place in the annals of Danish history.
In the 18th century, the name Stori found its way into English literature through the works of Samuel Johnson, the renowned lexicographer and author. In his famous novel "The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia," published in 1759, one of the characters bears the name Stori, possibly reflecting the author's familiarity with the name's Scandinavian origins.
Another noteworthy figure named Stori was Stori Sigurdsson (1857-1923), an Icelandic entrepreneur and politician who played a significant role in the development of Iceland's fishing industry and the country's path towards independence from Denmark. His contributions to the nation's economic and political spheres solidified his place in Icelandic history.
In more recent times, the name Stori has been associated with Stori Muir (1946-2005), a Canadian artist and sculptor known for her large-scale public artworks and installations. Her works can be found in various cities across North America, serving as a testament to her artistic vision and impact on the contemporary art scene.
While the name Stori may not be as prevalent today as it once was, its historical significance and ties to Scandinavian roots make it a unique and intriguing choice for those seeking a name with a rich cultural heritage.
People
Stori + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Stori 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
Stori: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Stori?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,376 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Stori 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 249,095 US residents.
Is Stori a common name?
We classify Stori as "Rare". It ranks above 92% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,394 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Stori most popular?
The single biggest year for Stori was 2024, when 165 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Stori is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Stori in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 655 people with the name Stori, or 0.22 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,018 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 Stori 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 Stori?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Stori leans strongly female. 647 people counted with this name were female (98.5%), compared with 10 male bearers (1.5%). 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 Stori?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Stori is White at 43.8%. The next largest groups are Black (40.8%) and Two or More Races (7.9%). 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 Stori most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Stori in the 2020 Census, accounting for 43.8% (287 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 Stori in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Stori a female name?
Yes, 99.3% of people registered as Stori 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 Stori still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Stori 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 Stori 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 Stori?
See how many people have the name Stori on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.