Stella is a female given name. It is derived from the Latin word for star. It has been in use in English-speaking countries since it was first used by Philip Sidney in Astrophel and Stella, his 1580s sonnet sequence. Use might also have increased due to Stella Maris as a title for the Virgin Mary by Catholics. Alternately, it is a feminine version of the Greek name Stylianos, meaning pillar.
Popularity
Stella has been well-used in countries where Germanic and Romance languages are spoken: England and Italy themselves, and especially Anglophone Africa and Latin America.
List of people with the given name Stella
Arts and entertainment
- Stella, stage name of Stella Huang, Singaporean singer-actress
- Stella Abrera (born 1978), Filipino-American ballet dancer
- Stella Adler (1901âÂÂ1992), American actress and acting teacher
- Stella Arbenina (1884âÂÂ1976), Russian-born actress
- Stella Bennett or Benee (born 2000), New Zealand singer-songwriter
- Stella Benson (1892âÂÂ1933), English feminist, travel writer, and novelist
- Stella Blandy (1836âÂÂ1925), French woman of letters, feminist
- Stella Bowen (1893âÂÂ1947), Australian artist
- Stella Brennan (born 1974), New Zealand artist, curator, and essayist
- Stella Chitty (1928âÂÂ2005), British stage manager
- Stella Chiweshe (1946âÂÂ2023), Zimbabwean musician
- Stella Corkery (born 1960), New Zealand artist and musician
- Stella Dadzie (born 1952), British writer, historian, educationalist and activist
- Stella Feehily (born 1969), London-born Irish playwright and actress
- Stella Miles Franklin (1879âÂÂ1954), Australian novelist
- Stella Jones (singer) (born 1971), German soul and jazz singer, pianist, arranger and composer
- Stella Keitel, American actress
- Stella Kon (born 1944), Singaporean playwright
- Stella Weiner Kriegshaber (1879âÂÂ1966), American pianist
- Stella LeSaint (1881âÂÂ1948), American silent film actress
- Stella Linden (1919âÂÂ2005), actress and writer
- Stella Madden, English actress
- Stella Maessen (born 1953), Dutch singer
- Stella Maeve (born 1989), American actress
- Stella Malucchi (born 1977), Thai model and actress
- Stella Maxwell (born 1990), Northern Irish model
- Stella Meghie, Canadian film director and screenwriter
- Stella De Mette (1891âÂÂ1989), American contralto opera singer
- Stella Moray (1923âÂÂ2006), English actress
- Stella Mwangi (born 1986), Norwegian-Kenyan singer
- Stella Parton (born 1949), American country music singer/songwriter, sister of Dolly Parton
- Stella Pevsner (1921âÂÂ2020), author of children's books
- Stella Reid (born 1964), co-star of the Fox network reality television show Nanny 911
- Stella Richman (1922âÂÂ2002), British television producer
- Stella Roman (1904âÂÂ1992), Romanian operatic soprano
- Stella Seah (born 1992), Singaporean singer-songwriter
- Stella Soleil (born 1971), American pop and rock singer
- Stella Stevens (1934âÂÂ2023), American model and actress born Estelle Eggleston
- Stella Steyn (1907âÂÂ1987), Irish artist
- Stella Stocker (1858âÂÂ1925), American composer and choral conductor
- Stella Stratigou (1931âÂÂ2005), Greek actress
- Stella Vander (born 1950), French singer and musician
- Stella Vine (born 1969), English artist
Sports
Politics
- Stella Ambler (born 1966), Canadian politician
- Stella Creasy (born 1977), British Member of Parliament
- Stella Dupont (born 1973), French Member of Parliament
- Stella Garza-Hicks (born 1953), former Republican legislator in the U.S. state of Colorado
- Stella Goldschlag (1922âÂÂ1994), German Jewish woman who collaborated with the Gestapo during World War II
- Stella Gherman (born 1974), Moldovan Member of Parliament
- Stella Isaacs, Marchioness of Reading (1894âÂÂ1971), British political and military figure
- Stella Jantuan (born 1966), Moldovan politician
- Stella Levy (1924âÂÂ1999), Israeli soldier and politician
- Stella Oduah-Ogiemwonyi (born 1962), Nigerian Minister of Aviation
- Stella Maris Olalla (born 1943), Argentine politician
- Stella Omu (born 1946), Nigerian politician
- Stella Sigcau (1937âÂÂ2006), Minister in the South African government and first female Prime Minister of the Transkei
Other
- Stella Baruk (born 1932), Iranian-born French teacher, mathematician, author and educationalist
- Stella Burry (1897âÂÂ1991), Canadian activist
- Stella Cunliffe (1917âÂÂ2012), British statistician
- Stella Din-Jacob, Nigerian media executive, broadcast journalist, lawyer and Director of News at TVC Communications
- Stella Immanuel (born 1965), Cameroonian-American physician, author, and pastor
- Stella Koutros, American cancer epidemiologist
- Stella Liebeck, American plaintiff in the "McDonald's coffee case"
- Stella Manzie (born 1960), British public servant and civil servant
- Stella Márquez (born 1937), Colombian beauty queen and first Miss International
- Stella Mary Newton (1901âÂÂ2001), English fashion designer and dress historian
- Stella Mason (c.1901?âÂÂ1918), Muscogee/Creek freedman, subject to a known lawsuit over an estate
- Stella Maxwell (born 1990), Northern Irish fashion model
- Stella McCartney (born 1971), British fashion designer
- Stella Nickell (born 1943), American murderer
- Stella Nyanzi (born 1974), Ugandan human rights activist
- Stella Obasanjo (1945âÂÂ2005), former First Lady of Nigeria
- Stella Rimington (1935âÂÂ2025), British author and Director General of MI5 (1992âÂÂ1996)
- Stella Ross-Craig (1906âÂÂ2006), British botanic illustrator
- Stella de Silva (1918âÂÂ2012), paediatrician from Sri Lanka
- Stella Hackel Sims (born 1926), Director of the United States Mint from 1977 to 1981
- Stella Tennant (1970âÂÂ2020), Scottish model
- Stella Tillyard (born 1957), British author and historian
- Stella Young (1982âÂÂ2014), Australian comedian, journalist and disability rights activist
Fictional characters
- Stella (Winx Club), one of the main characters of Winx Club
- Stella a female snow goose who is Boris' girlfriend and appears in Balto III: Wings of Change
- Stella, female protagonist of an anime movie '
- Stella of the Ars Goetia, a character in the animated series Helluva Boss, voiced by Georgina Leahy
- Stella Bains, a character from the movie Back to the Future
- Stella Bonasera, character in CSI: NY
- Stella Bonnaro, character in Cowboy Bebop
- Stella Chernak, character in the TV drama Peyton Place
- Stella the Storyteller, fictional character from the TV series Barney & Friends
- Stella Crawford, character in the BBC soap opera EastEnders
- Stella Dagostino, character in Rush
- Stella Grayber, a character in Poppy Playtime
- Stella Kidd, character in the TV drama âÂÂChicago FireâÂÂ
- Stella Kowalski, character in the play A Streetcar Named Desire
- Stella Loussier, character in the anime Gundam SEED Destiny
- Stella Malone, character in the Disney Channel series Jonas
- Stella Mann (television character), character in the German soap opera Verbotene Liebe (Forbidden Love)
- Stella Maynard, character in Anne of the Island
- Stella Moon, character in the Scottish BBC drama TV series Monarch of the Glen
- Stella Morris, title character of Sky One series Stella
- Stella Mudd, wife of Harcourt Fenton "Harry" Mudd. from ' "I, Mudd"
- Stella Price, character in the British soap opera Coronation Street
- Stella Nicholls, protagonist of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark
- Stella Shortman, a character from Nickelodeon's Hey Arnold!
- Stella Takachiho, a character in the Revue Starlight franchise
- Stella Urquhart, character in the 1983 film Local Hero
- Stella Vermillion, a mage knight from Chivalry of a Failed Knight
- Stella Zhau, from the American animated series The Loud House
- Stella, the ideal woman in the work of Norwegian poet Henrik Wergeland
- Stella is the name of the Glinda analogue in The Wizard of the Emerald City series by Alexander Volkov
- Stella, a female Galah in the Angry Birds series including the spin-off Angry Birds Stella
- Stella Klauser, a non-playable character in Final Fantasy V
- Queen Stella, a non-playable character in Final Fantasy IX
- Stella, a non-playable character in '
- Stella, a supporting character in Totally Spies! in which she is the mother of super spy Clover
- Stella, a character in the 2006 film Over the Hedge
- Stella, one of the main characters in the series Trulli Tales
- Stella, the guardian of the Sparkle Theater in '
- Stella the Star Fairy, a character from the Rainbow Magic book franchise
- Stella, the main protagonist of the video game Spiritfarer
Name day
References
See also