Meaning theme
20 Names That Mean Star
Names that mean star include Stella (Latin), Seren (Welsh), Esther (Persian), Sitara (Persian and Urdu), Citlali (Nahuatl), and Najm (Arabic). Nova, Latin for new, refers to a suddenly brightening star, while Orion, Sirius, and Altair come from the night sky's most famous stars and constellations.
Star names promise brilliance and a touch of destiny, which may explain why nearly every language has placed one in its naming pool. Latin gave us Stella, Persia gave us Esther and Sitara, and the Aztecs named daughters Citlali after the stars over Tenochtitlan. These names all hold a verifiable celestial meaning.
- Altair MasculineArabic“the flying eagle”
- Celeste FeminineLatin“heavenly”
- Citlali FeminineNahuatl“star”
- Danica FeminineSlavic“morning star”
- Esther FemininePersian and Hebrew“star”
- Hesper FeminineGreek“evening star”
- Hikaru UnisexJapanese“light, radiance”
- Hoku UnisexHawaiian“star”
- Hoshi FeminineJapanese“star”
- Maris FeminineLatin“of the sea”
- Najm MasculineArabic“star”
- Nova FeminineLatin“new”
- Orion MasculineGreek“uncertain; the hunter of Greek myth”
- Seren FeminineWelsh“star”
- Sirius MasculineGreek“scorching, glowing”
- Sitara FemininePersian and Urdu“star”
- Stella FeminineLatin“star”
- Tara FeminineSanskrit“star”
- Tariq MasculineArabic“he who knocks by night; the morning star”
- Vesper UnisexLatin“evening”
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Questions
Stella, taken directly from the Latin word for star, leads the category and has sat comfortably in the American top 100 for over a decade. Seren is the Welsh word for star and a top name in Wales, while Esther most likely derives from the Persian word setareh, meaning star.
Orion, the great hunter placed among the constellations in Greek myth, is the most popular star-related boys' name in the United States. Sirius names the brightest star in the night sky, from a Greek word meaning scorching, and Altair comes from the Arabic phrase for the flying eagle.
Nova literally means new in Latin, but in astronomy a nova is a star that suddenly flares into brilliance, which is the sense most parents intend. The name has surged in the United States, entering the girls' top 40 in the early 2020s.
Hoshi is the Japanese word for star and is used as a girls' name, typically written with the star character. It remains uncommon as a given name in Japan itself, where star imagery more often appears as one element within longer names.