In Croatia, Sternisa families are Croats (from Rijeka ). In the past century, relatively most of Croatian residents bearing this family name were born in Rijeka.
Prevalence
Only a few people with faimily name Sternisa live in Croatia today, in two households only. There were 0 of them in the middle of the past century, and their number multiplied. They are located in one Croatian city only, in Rijeka (<10).
Outside Croatia
Family name Sternisa is present in 10 countries on four continents. "Sternisha " is used by some 200 people in the United States and small number in Algeria.
In the sources analysed in the project Acta Croatica so far, the name is mentioned few times, the first time 1902 in source Hartmann's General List of Apartments in Zagreb.