diff --git a/docs/reference/esql/functions/description/std_dev.asciidoc b/docs/reference/esql/functions/description/std_dev.asciidoc
index b78ddd7dbba13..8026201c9be2d 100644
--- a/docs/reference/esql/functions/description/std_dev.asciidoc
+++ b/docs/reference/esql/functions/description/std_dev.asciidoc
@@ -2,4 +2,4 @@
 
 *Description*
 
-The standard deviation of a numeric field.
+The population standard deviation of a numeric field.
diff --git a/docs/reference/esql/functions/examples/std_dev.asciidoc b/docs/reference/esql/functions/examples/std_dev.asciidoc
index 2e6dc996aae9a..1e1e7dd7ac967 100644
--- a/docs/reference/esql/functions/examples/std_dev.asciidoc
+++ b/docs/reference/esql/functions/examples/std_dev.asciidoc
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ include::{esql-specs}/stats.csv-spec[tag=stdev]
 |===
 include::{esql-specs}/stats.csv-spec[tag=stdev-result]
 |===
-The expression can use inline functions. For example, to calculate the standard deviation of each employee's maximum salary changes, first use `MV_MAX` on each row, and then use `STD_DEV` on the result
+The expression can use inline functions. For example, to calculate the population standard deviation of each employee's maximum salary changes, first use `MV_MAX` on each row, and then use `STD_DEV` on the result
 [source.merge.styled,esql]
 ----
 include::{esql-specs}/stats.csv-spec[tag=docsStatsStdDevNestedExpression]
diff --git a/docs/reference/esql/functions/kibana/definition/std_dev.json b/docs/reference/esql/functions/kibana/definition/std_dev.json
index f31d3345421d9..b0598c3ab07d5 100644
--- a/docs/reference/esql/functions/kibana/definition/std_dev.json
+++ b/docs/reference/esql/functions/kibana/definition/std_dev.json
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
   "comment" : "This is generated by ESQL's AbstractFunctionTestCase. Do no edit it. See ../README.md for how to regenerate it.",
   "type" : "agg",
   "name" : "std_dev",
-  "description" : "The standard deviation of a numeric field.",
+  "description" : "The population standard deviation of a numeric field.",
   "signatures" : [
     {
       "params" : [
diff --git a/docs/reference/esql/functions/kibana/docs/std_dev.md b/docs/reference/esql/functions/kibana/docs/std_dev.md
index a6afca7b8f6b3..de0dcebb5e6b4 100644
--- a/docs/reference/esql/functions/kibana/docs/std_dev.md
+++ b/docs/reference/esql/functions/kibana/docs/std_dev.md
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ This is generated by ESQL's AbstractFunctionTestCase. Do no edit it. See ../READ
 -->
 
 ### STD_DEV
-The standard deviation of a numeric field.
+The population standard deviation of a numeric field.
 
 ```
 FROM employees
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/esql/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/esql/expression/function/aggregate/StdDev.java b/x-pack/plugin/esql/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/esql/expression/function/aggregate/StdDev.java
index 0e189b069f7de..6e8fdb4ee5256 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/esql/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/esql/expression/function/aggregate/StdDev.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/esql/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/esql/expression/function/aggregate/StdDev.java
@@ -36,12 +36,12 @@ public class StdDev extends AggregateFunction implements ToAggregator {
 
     @FunctionInfo(
         returnType = "double",
-        description = "The standard deviation of a numeric field.",
+        description = "The population standard deviation of a numeric field.",
         isAggregation = true,
         examples = {
             @Example(file = "stats", tag = "stdev"),
             @Example(
-                description = "The expression can use inline functions. For example, to calculate the standard "
+                description = "The expression can use inline functions. For example, to calculate the population standard "
                     + "deviation of each employee's maximum salary changes, first use `MV_MAX` on each row, "
                     + "and then use `STD_DEV` on the result",
                 file = "stats",