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The title of Earl of Stirling was created in the Peerage of Scotland in 1633. It became dormant upon the death of the fifth earl in 1739, although one William Alexander of New York; known to history as Major General Lord Stirling of the American Revolutionary Army pursued a claim to succeed to the dormant earldom in the early 1760s, which was ultimately turned down by the House of Lords. The earls bore the subsidiary titles of Viscount of Stirling (1630), Viscount of Canada (1633), Lord Alexander of Tullibody (1630), and Lord Alexander of Tullibody (1633). The earls were also Baronets Alexander, of Menstrie, in Logie, co. Clackmannan (Nova Scotia, 12 July 1625). Several hereditary Great Offices-of-State and related titles in Canada were/are held by the Earls of Stirling including Lieutenant-General of Nova Scotia 10 Sept 1621, Lord of Nova Scotia 10 Sept 1621, Lord High Admiral of Nova Scotia 28 May 1625, Lord Lieutenant of Nova Scotia 19 July 1625, Lord of Canada 2 Feb 1628, Lord Lieutenant of Canada 14 June 1633 (The Register of the Great Seal of Scotland).

There was an attempt to assert that there was a new grant of the title of Earl of Dovan in 1637 connected with the title of Earl of Stirling, and a new destination of descent for the title of Earl of Stirling, but the court case against Alexander Humphrys-Alexander (1783-1859) filed in 1839 ruled that the documents in support of such case were forgeries.

In August 1999 an American, Timothy Alexander of Greenan, Baron of Greenan in Scotland and former Scottish Editor of Burke's Peerage, used the ancient Scots Peerage Law process of an Assumption-at-Law to assume the titles. This is the normal process used for succession to dormant Scottish Peerage titles and the holder of an assumed title remains the title holder until and unless successfully challenged in a proper legal venue. No such legal action has been undertaken, nor is one possible under current law (House of Lords Act of 1999; Royal Warrant of June 2004 establishing the Roll of the Peerage). Scots Peerage Law differs on several major points from English Peerage Law and the process of succession is one of the most important differences, with English (and GB and UK) title holders having to first prove their claim, whereas Scottish title holders first assume their titles and are subject to a legal challenge only thereafter ("Hewlett on Scottish Dignities"; "The Sixteen Peers of Scotland"). In December 1999, the current Lord Stirling sat in the Peers Gallery on the floor of the House of Lords, as the Earl of Stirling, sitting as the guest of the then Leader of the House of Lords (House of Lords).

The current Earl of Stirling has petitioned for a resettlement-by-letters patent to eliminate the rules of male primogeniture with regard to the succession to his family's titles. This has not been approved by the present British Government and the current Earl lost an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights (European Court of Human Rights, Alexander v. United Kingdom, #23913/04) over this issue on a legal point in 2005.

Earls of Stirling (1633)

• William Alexander, 1st Earl of Stirling (1576-1640)
• William Alexander, 2nd Earl of Stirling (d.1640)
• Henry Alexander, 3rd Earl of Stirling (d.1644)
• Henry Alexander, 4th Earl of Stirling (d.1691)
• Henry Alexander, 5th Earl of Stirling (1664-1739)
• Timothy Alexander, 6th Earl of Stirling (1950-)