Sterling
Usually a nickname from the word for high-quality, “pure” silver money, though some bearers may derive it from place names or confusion with Stirling/Starling.
The #1,362 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 11,923 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Sterling is most often explained from Middle English sterling, the name of a silver penny and, by extension, something of tested quality or pure metal. Some older writers connected the word with Esterling, meaning “easterner,” referring to German merchants or minters said to have introduced refined silver coinage into England. Another traditional explanation links it with Starling by pronunciation or spelling confusion, but the coin-name origin is the standard one in surname dictionaries.
History
In English records, Sterling appears as a byname for someone associated with sterling coin, sterling metal, or figuratively with honesty and high value. Older surname books also note possible overlap with Scottish place-based surnames such as Stirling, so not every family named Sterling necessarily shares the same origin. In America, the surname has been carried by a wide range of families, with no single source line dominating.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The everyday phrase “sterling quality” ultimately comes from the same word family as the surname Sterling.
From the historical record
“(Eng.) for Stipk, q.v. STERLING (Eng.) i nickname from the former coin so called [M.E. sterling ; perh. = starling : v. under Starling] (occ.) 2 for Stapling (q.v.) through the pron. Starling. (Celt.) for^tirling. q.v. / STERN 1 (Eng.) Austere, Severe [M.E. STERNE / Sterne, O.E. stieme, styme'\”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)