diff --git a/docs/reference/query-languages/esql/_snippets/functions/description/std_dev.md b/docs/reference/query-languages/esql/_snippets/functions/description/std_dev.md
index 6f518bf874947..1e6ae637f428a 100644
--- a/docs/reference/query-languages/esql/_snippets/functions/description/std_dev.md
+++ b/docs/reference/query-languages/esql/_snippets/functions/description/std_dev.md
@@ -2,5 +2,5 @@
 
 **Description**
 
-The standard deviation of a numeric field.
+The population standard deviation of a numeric field.
 
diff --git a/docs/reference/query-languages/esql/_snippets/functions/examples/std_dev.md b/docs/reference/query-languages/esql/_snippets/functions/examples/std_dev.md
index d8aa421abbfc2..21d7cdfc26a71 100644
--- a/docs/reference/query-languages/esql/_snippets/functions/examples/std_dev.md
+++ b/docs/reference/query-languages/esql/_snippets/functions/examples/std_dev.md
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ FROM employees
 | --- |
 | 0.20637044362020449 |
 
-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
 
 ```esql
 FROM employees
diff --git a/docs/reference/query-languages/esql/kibana/definition/functions/std_dev.json b/docs/reference/query-languages/esql/kibana/definition/functions/std_dev.json
index e866688e3f451..f3afab6a9e721 100644
--- a/docs/reference/query-languages/esql/kibana/definition/functions/std_dev.json
+++ b/docs/reference/query-languages/esql/kibana/definition/functions/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/query-languages/esql/kibana/docs/functions/std_dev.md b/docs/reference/query-languages/esql/kibana/docs/functions/std_dev.md
index 1bc96bf39f6e1..d7b53fb2b24a3 100644
--- a/docs/reference/query-languages/esql/kibana/docs/functions/std_dev.md
+++ b/docs/reference/query-languages/esql/kibana/docs/functions/std_dev.md
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 % This is generated by ESQL's AbstractFunctionTestCase. Do no edit it. See ../README.md for how to regenerate it.
 
 ### STD DEV
-The standard deviation of a numeric field.
+The population standard deviation of a numeric field.
 
 ```esql
 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 10e604de89b3c..22a97c2ccb5b3 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
@@ -37,12 +37,12 @@ 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.",
         type = FunctionType.AGGREGATE,
         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",