Akademik

Sterling m

English: transferred use of the surname, which may represent a hypercorrected form of the nickname Starling (referring to the bird). As a given name, however, Sterling is likely to have been chosen because of its association with the vocabulary word occurring in such phrases as ‘sterling qualities’ and ‘sterling worth’. This word is derived from the Middle English word sterrling ‘little star’: some Norman coins had a little star on them.

Variant: Stirling (respelled as if derived from the Scottish placename, which is of uncertain derivation, possibly from Welsh ystre Velyn ‘dwelling of Melyn’).