Starlett
A feminine given name of American origin referring to a celestial star.
Name Census estimates that about 643 living Americans carry the first name Starlett. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Starlett today is around 41 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Starlett births was 1981 (26 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Starlett. 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 Starlett with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
643
~ 1 in 533,055 Americans
Peak year
1981
26 babies that year
Average age
41
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,883
Tracked since 1942
Census
Starlett in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 532 people with the first name Starlett, which placed it at #19,726 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
#19,726
National first-name rank
People counted
532
532 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
48.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Starlett
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Starlett is White at 48.9%. The next largest groups are Black (29.3%) and Hispanic (13.3%). 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 Starlett 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 Starlett at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White48.9% · 260
- Black or African American29.3% · 156
- Hispanic or Latino13.3% · 71
- Two or more races5.3% · 28
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.3% · 12
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 5
Popularity
Starlett: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Starlett from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 116 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1970s peak, Starlett remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Starlett 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 Starlett during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Starletts live
Origin
Meaning and history of Starlett
The name Starlett is a relatively modern name that emerged in the late 19th or early 20th century. It is an English name derived from the word "star," which comes from the Old English word "steorra." The suffix "-lett" is a diminutive form, indicating a small or little star.
The name Starlett does not appear to have any significant historical or cultural references in ancient texts, religious scriptures, or historical records. Its origins can be traced back to the growing fascination with the celestial bodies and the romanticization of stars during the late Victorian era and the early 20th century.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Starlett is found in the 1920s. Starlett Cambon, born in 1923, was a French actress and model who appeared in several films during the 1940s and 1950s. She was known for her striking beauty and her association with the French New Wave cinema movement.
Another notable figure with the name Starlett was Starlett Miree, an American actress born in 1949. She had a successful career in television and appeared in popular shows such as "Barney Miller" and "The Rockford Files" in the 1970s and 1980s.
In the literary world, Starlett Curry was an American poet and author born in 1967. She published several collections of poetry and was known for her unique voice and her exploration of themes related to identity, feminism, and the human experience.
Starlett Hawkins, born in 1975, was an Australian singer-songwriter and musician. She gained popularity in the early 2000s with her alternative rock band and was known for her powerful vocals and emotionally charged lyrics.
Starlett Schrader, born in 1982, is an American professional golfer who has competed on the LPGA Tour and various other professional golf circuits. She has won multiple tournaments and has been recognized for her consistent and skilled performances on the golf course.
It is important to note that while these examples provide insights into the use of the name Starlett throughout history, the name itself is relatively modern and does not have a deep-rooted historical or cultural significance in the way that many ancient or traditional names do.
People
Starlett + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Starlett 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
Starlett: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Starlett?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 643 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Starlett 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 533,055 US residents.
Is Starlett a common name?
We classify Starlett as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 741 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Starlett most popular?
The single biggest year for Starlett was 1981, when 26 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Starlett is about 41 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Starlett in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 532 people with the name Starlett, or 0.18 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #19,726 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 Starlett 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 Starlett?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Starlett appears almost entirely female. Of the 530 people counted with this name, 99.4% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Starlett?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Starlett is White at 48.9%. The next largest groups are Black (29.3%) and Hispanic (13.3%). 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 Starlett most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Starlett in the 2020 Census, accounting for 48.9% (260 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 Starlett in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Starlett a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Starlett 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 Starlett still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Starlett 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 Starlett 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 have the name Starlett?
Find out how many people have the name Starlett on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.