Stearns is a surname derived from the Old English Stierne, which meant severe or strict. Variations include Stearn, Sterne and Stern. Notable people and characters with the name include:
People Asahel Stearns (1774–1839), American politician from Massachusetts Betsey Ann Stearns (1830–1914), American inventor Bill Stearns (1853–1898), American professional baseball pitcher Carl Leo Stearns (1892–1972), American astronomer Cassius Clement Stearns (1838–1910), American composer Charles Woodward Stearns (1817–1887), American writer Charles Thomas Stearns (1807–1898), American politician from Illinois and Minnesota Charlotte Champe Stearns (1843–1929), American social worker, poet and mother of T. S. Eliot Cheryl Stearns (born 1955), American skydiver Clark Daniel Stearns (1870–1944), American naval officer and Governor of American Samoa Cliff Stearns (born 1941), American politician from Florida David Stearns (born 1985), American baseball executive Eben S. Stearns (1819–1887), American educator Foster W. Stearns (1881–1956), American politician from New Hampshire Frances Stearns (1907–2001), American politician from Connecticut Frank Stearns (1856–1939), American businessman and close friend of Calvin Coolidge Frank Preston Stearns (1846–1917), American writer and abolitionist from Massachusetts Frederick K. Stearns (1854–1924), American businessman (see also Frederick Stearns Building) George Luther Stearns (1809–1867), American industrialist and merchant George Stearns (politician) (1901–1979), Canadian politician from Quebec Glenn Stearns (born 1963), American businessman, founder of Stearns Lending Guy Beckley Stearns (1870–1947), American physician specializing in homeopathy Henry A. Stearns (1825–1910), American politician and industrialist from Rhode Island Howard Stearns (born 1955), American college football coach Jason Stearns (born 1976), American writer, coordinator of a UN investigation into the wars in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Jeff Chiba Stearns (fl. 2000s–present), Canadian independent animation filmmaker John Stearns (1951–2022), American professional baseball player John Stearns (physician) (1770–1848), American physician John Goddard Stearns Jr. (1843–1917), American architect and co-founder of the firm Peabody & Stearns Junius Brutus Stearns (1810–1885), American painter Justin K. Stearns (born 1974), American academic Katee Stearns, American model who served as Miss Maine USA Marcellus Stearns (1839–1891), American politician from Florida Marshall Stearns (1908–1966), American jazz critic and musicologist Martha Stearns Marshall (1726–1771), American Separate Baptist preacher Michael Stearns (born 1948), American ambient musician Nellie George Stearns (1855–1936), American artist and art teacher Onslow Stearns (1810–1878), American railroad builder and executive Ozora P. Stearns (1831–1896), American politician from Minnesota Peter Stearns (born 1936), American history professor Peyton Stearns (born 2001), American tennis player R. H. Stearns (1824–1909), American tradesman, philanthropist, and politician from Massachusetts Richard Stearns (disambiguation), several people Richard Stearns (sailor) (1927–2022), American sailor and Olympic medalist Richard Stearns (World Vision), American charity executive Richard E. Stearns (1936–2026), American computer scientist Richard G. Stearns (born 1944), American federal judge from Massachusetts Robert B. Stearns, American financier and co-founder of Bear Stearns Robert Edwards Carter Stearns (1827–1909), American conchologist Shubal Stearns (1706–1771), American evangelist and preacher Stephen C. Stearns (born 1946), American evolutionary biology Tim Stearns (born 1961), American biologist Theodore Stearns (1880–1935), American composer Winfrid Alden Stearns (1852–1909), American naturalist
Fictional characters Mike Stearns, a fictional character in 1632
See also Sterns (surname) Stearn, surname