Stark
A robust Germanic name denoting strength and vigor.
Name Census estimates that about 240 living Americans carry the first name Stark. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Stark today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Stark births was 2019 (27 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Stark. 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
240
~ 1 in 1,428,143 Americans
Peak year
2019
27 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,729
Tracked since 1950
Census
Stark in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 273 people with the first name Stark, which placed it at #31,391 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
#31,391
National first-name rank
People counted
273
273 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
74.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Stark
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Stark is White at 74.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (5.5%). 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 Stark 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 Stark at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White74.7% · 204
- Hispanic or Latino8.8% · 24
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.5% · 15
- Two or more races5.5% · 15
- Black or African American4.8% · 13
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 2
Popularity
Stark: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Stark from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 161 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Stark remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Stark 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 Stark 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 Stark
The name Stark originates from the Old English word "stearc," which means "strong" or "rigid." It is believed to have been derived from the Proto-Germanic word "sterkaz," which had a similar meaning. The name first appeared in written records around the 7th century AD in Anglo-Saxon England.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Stark can be found in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a collection of annals that recorded the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The name is mentioned in an entry dated 672 AD, which refers to a person named Stark who was a nobleman in the kingdom of Mercia.
In the Middle Ages, the name Stark was primarily used as a surname, often given to individuals who were known for their strength or physical prowess. However, it was also used as a given name, particularly among the nobility and aristocracy.
One notable historical figure who bore the name Stark was Stark Arnason, a 10th-century Icelandic chieftain and lawspeaker. He played a significant role in the establishment of the Althing, the oldest extant parliamentary institution in the world.
Another famous bearer of the name was Stark Munro, a fictional character created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the author of the Sherlock Holmes stories. Stark Munro was the protagonist of a novel published in 1895, which followed his adventures as a medical student and later as a doctor in the American West.
In the 12th century, a German knight named Stark von Lochwitz was known for his bravery and skill in battle. He fought alongside Frederick Barbarossa, the Holy Roman Emperor, during the Third Crusade and was renowned for his loyalty and courage.
During the Renaissance period, there was an Italian painter named Stark Sandro, who was active in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. His works were influenced by the Florentine and Venetian schools of painting, and he is best known for his religious and mythological scenes.
In the 19th century, Stark Arbuthnot was a Scottish mathematician and naval officer who made significant contributions to the field of navigation and chart-making. He served in the British Royal Navy and published several works on nautical subjects.
These examples illustrate the diverse historical references and notable individuals who have borne the name Stark throughout the centuries, reflecting its strong and steadfast connotations.
People
Stark + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Stark 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
Stark: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Stark?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 240 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Stark 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 1,428,143 US residents.
Is Stark a common name?
We classify Stark as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 244 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Stark most popular?
The single biggest year for Stark was 2019, when 27 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Stark 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 Stark in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 273 people with the name Stark, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #31,391 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 Stark 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 Stark?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Stark leans strongly male. 250 people counted with this name were male (92.3%), compared with 21 female bearers (7.7%). 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 Stark?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Stark is White at 74.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (5.5%). 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 Stark most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Stark in the 2020 Census, accounting for 74.7% (204 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 Stark in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Stark a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Stark in the SSA data are male. 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 Stark still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Stark 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 Stark 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 Stark?
Want to know how many people share the name Stark? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.