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Stella is a female given name. It is derived from the Latin word for star.[1][2] 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.[3] Alternately, it is a feminine version of the Greek name Stylianos, meaning pillar.[4]
Stella is a well-used name in recent years, among the most popular names for newborn girls in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, England, Finland, France, Iceland, Indonesia, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, United States, and Wales.[5][6]
Arts and entertainment
- Stella, stage name of Stella Huang, singer-actress
- Stella Abrera (born 1978), Filipino-American ballet dancer
- Stella Adler (1901–1992), American actress and acting teacher
- Stella Arbenina (1884–1976), Russian-born actress
- Stella Bennett or Benee (born 2000), New Zealand singer-songwriter
- Stella Benson (1892–1933), English feminist, travel writer, and novelist
- Stella Blandy (1836–1925), French woman of letters, feminist
- Stella Bowen (1893–1947), Australian artist
- Stella Brennan (born 1974), New Zealand artist, curator, and essayist
- Stella Chitty (1928–2005), British stage manager
- Stella Chiweshe (1946–2023), 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 Keitel, American actress
- Stella Kon (born 1944), Singaporean playwright
- Stella Weiner Kriegshaber (1879–1966), American pianist
- Stella LeSaint (1881–1948), American silent film actress
- Stella Linden (1919–2005), 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 March (1915–2010), pen name of a British romance novelist
- Stella Maxwell (born 1990), Northern Irish model
- Stella Meghie, Canadian film director and screenwriter
- Stella Moray (1923–2006), English actress
- Stella Mwangi (born 1986), Norwegian-Kenyan singer
- Stella Nickell (born 1943), an American serial killer
- Stella Parton (born 1949), American country music singer/songwriter, sister of Dolly Parton
- Stella Pevsner (1921–2020), author of children's books
- Stella Reid (born 1964), co-star of the Fox network reality television show Nanny 911
- Stella Richman (1922–2002), British television producer
- Stella Roman (1904–1992), Romanian operatic soprano
- Stella Seah (born 1992), Singaporean singer-songwriter
- Stella Soleil (born 1971), American pop and rock singer
- Stella Stevens (1934–2023) American model and actress born Estelle Eggleston
- Stella Steyn (1907–1987), Irish artist
- Stella Stocker (1858–1925), American composer and choral conductor
- Stella Stratigou (1931–2005), Greek actress
- Stella Vander (born 1950), French singer and musician
- Stella Vine (born 1969), English artist
Sports
- Stella Ashcroft (born 2002), gymnast from New Zealand
- Stella Barsosio (born 1993), Kenyan long-distance runner
- Stella Boumi (born 1988), Greek swimmer
- Stella Heiß (born 1993), German curler
- Stella de Heij (born 1968), Dutch field hockey goalkeeper
- Stela Posavec (born 1996), Croatian handball player
- Stella Pilatou (born 1980), Greek long jumper
- Stella Rutto (born 1996), Romanian steeplechaser
- Stella Tsikouna (born 1972), Greek discus thrower
- Stella Zakharova (born 1963), Olympic gymnast for the former Soviet Union
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 (1922–1994), German Jewish woman who collaborated with the Gestapo during World War II, exposing and denouncing Berlin's underground Jews.
- Stella Gherman (born 1974), Moldovan Member of Parliament
- Stella Isaacs, Marchioness of Reading (1894–1971), British political and military figure
- Stella Jantuan (born 1966), Moldovan politician
- Stella Levy (1924–1999), 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 (1937–2006), Minister in the South African government and first female Prime Minister of the Transkei
Other
- Stella Baruk (1932), Iranian-born French teacher, mathematician, author and educationalist
- Stella Burry (1897–1991), Canadian activist
- Stella Cunliffe (1917–2012), British statistician
- 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 (1960), British public servant and civil servant
- Stella Márquez (born 1937), former Colombian beauty queen and first Miss International
- Stella Mary Newton (1901–2001, English fashion designer and dress historian
- Stella Mason (c.1901?–1918), 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 Obasanjo (1945–2005), former First Lady of Nigeria
- Stella Rimington (born 1935), British author and Director General of MI5
- Stella Ross-Craig (1906–2006), British botanic illustrator
- Stella Hackel Sims (born 1926), Director of the United States Mint from 1977 to 1981
- Stella Tennant (1970–2020), Scottish model
- Stella Tillyard (born 1957), British author and historian
- Stella Young (1982–2014), 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 Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem
- 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 Graybur, a character in Poppy Playtime
- 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 Star Trek "I, Mudd"
- Stella Price, character in the British soap opera Coronation Street
- Stella Nicholls, protagonist of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.
- 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 Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon
- 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 Princess Peach: Showtime!
- Stella the Star Fairy, a character from the Rainbow Magic book franchise
- Stella, the main protagonist of the video game Spiritfarer
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