Stephen

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title: "Stephen" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["given-names-of-greek-language-origin", "english-masculine-given-names", "masculine-given-names", "bulgarian-masculine-given-names", "german-masculine-given-names"] topic_path: "geography/germany" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="infobox given name"]

Field	Value
alternative spelling	Steven
caption	Saint Stephen (detail) by Giacomo Cavedone
derived	Στέφανος (grc)
gender	Male
image	StStephen GiacomoCavedone.jpg
meaning	Wreath, crown, honour, reward, royalty, renown, fame
name	Stephen
nickname	Stevo, Steve, Stevie, Ste, Steph
origin	Greek
pronunciation
related names	Stephan, Stjepan, Ștefan, Stefan, Stepan, Stefano, Stefani, Steph, Stephanie, Stevo, Steffen, Sten, Swen, Étienne, Estêvão, Esteban, István, Stephanie (feminine form)
see also	Robert, Rudolph, Roger, Louis, Ludwig, Timothy, Waldemar, Vladimir
::

| alternative spelling = Steven | caption = Saint Stephen (detail) by Giacomo Cavedone | derived = Στέφανος (grc) | gender = Male | image = StStephen GiacomoCavedone.jpg | image_size = | meaning = Wreath, crown, honour, reward, royalty, renown, fame | name = Stephen | nickname = Stevo, Steve, Stevie, Ste, Steph | origin = Greek | pronunciation =
| related names = Stephan, Stjepan, Ștefan, Stefan, Stepan, Stefano, Stefani, Steph, Stephanie, Stevo, Steffen, Sten, Swen, Étienne, Estêvão, Esteban, István, Stephanie (feminine form) | see also = Robert, Rudolph, Roger, Louis, Ludwig, Timothy, Waldemar, Vladimir

thumb|alt=two cups|Both common spellings of the name on a [[Starbucks Red Cup]] and clear cup

Stephen or Steven is an English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen (), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; he is widely regarded as the first martyr (or "protomartyr") of the Christian Church.

The name, in both the forms Stephen and Steven, is often shortened to Steve or Stevie. In English, the female version of the name is Stephanie.

Many surnames are derived from the first name, including Stephens, Stevens, Stephenson, and Stevenson, all of which mean "Stephen's (son)". In modern times the name has sometimes been given with intentionally non-standard spelling, such as Stevan or Stevon. A common variant of the name used in English is Stephan ( ); related names that have found some currency or significance in English include Stefan (pronounced or in English), Esteban (often pronounced ), and the Shakespearean Stephano ( ).

Origins

The name "Stephen" (and its common variant "Steven") is derived from Greek Στέφανος (Stéphanos), a first name from the Greek word στέφανος (stéphanos), meaning 'wreath, crown' and by extension 'reward, honor, renown, fame', from the verb στέφειν (stéphein), 'to encircle, to wreathe'. In Ancient Greece, crowning wreaths (such as laurel wreaths) were given to the winners of contests. Originally, as the verb suggests, the noun had a more general meaning of any "circle" – including a circle of people, a circling wall around a city, and, in its earliest recorded use, the circle of a fight, which is found in the Iliad of Homer.

Variants in other languages

Like all biblical names, Stephen has forms in other world languages. Among them are:

• Esteban – Spanish, Filipino
• *Estebão * – Old Portuguese
• Estepan, Estebe, Extiban, Estevan – Old Spanish
• Estêvão – Portuguese
• Esteve – Catalan
• Estevo – Galician
• Étienne ("Estienne" is an archaic spelling), Stéphan, Stéphane, Stéphen, Stéfane, Stéphanne – French
• İstefanos, Stefan – Turkish
• İstfan, Stepan – Azeri
• István, Stefán, Csépán – Hungarian
• Estebe, Eztebe – Basque
• Sitiveni – Fijian
• Steafán, Stiofán*, Steabhán* – Irish
• Štefan – Slovak, Slovene
• Stefan, Shtjefën, Fan – Albanian
• Stef, Stefan, Stephan, Steven, Stefanus, Steffen, Stefaan, Stefans – Afrikaans, Dutch
• Stefan, Stephan, Steffen – German
• Stefan, Stevan – Cornish, as in Eglosstefan, Lannstevan
• Stefan, Steven – Breton, as in Sant-Stefan-ar-Roudouz, Gwion Steven
• Ștefan, with the diminutives Ștefănel, Ștefăniță, Ștefănuț – Romanian
• Stefan, Szczepan – Polish
• Stefano – Italian Language|Esperanto
• Stefans, Stepans, Stepons, Stīvens – Latvian
• Stefanus, Stephanus – Latin
• Stefán – Icelandic
• Steven, Stephen, Stefanus, Stefan – Indonesian
• Staffan, Stefan – Swedish
• Steffan, Stifyn, Stîfyn – Welsh
• Steffen – Norwegian
• Steffen, Stephen, Stefan, Stephan – Danish
• Steffeni, Stefani, Stiifaat – Greenlandic
• Štěpán – Czech
• Steponas, Stepas – Lithuanian
• Stiefnu – Maltese
• Stèaphan*, Stìobhan, Stìophan* – Scottish Gaelic
• Stjepan**, Stijepo, Stepan, Stipan, Stipe, Stipo, Stipa, Šćepan, Šćepo, Štef, Stevko, Stevo, Stefan, Stevan, Stevica – Serbo-Croatian as in Stefan the First-Crowned
• Tapani, Teppo, Tahvo**, Teppana,– Finnish
• Têphanô, Stêphanô, Êtiên – Vietnamese
• Tehvan – Estonian
• Tipene – Māori
• Στέφανος (Stephanos, Stefanos, Stephanas, Stepfan, Stephano, Stephanus – Greek
• Степан (Stepan*,* the most common; Ukrainian), Стефан (Stefan)
• Степан/Stepan, Stepa, Stepka, Stepanya, Stepashka – Russian
• Стефан (Stefan), diminutive: Чефо (Chefo), Стефчо (Stefcho), Стефо (Stefo) – Bulgarian
• Стефан/Stefan, Стеван/Stevan, Стево/Stevo, Стефо/Stefo, Стефче/Stefche – Macedonian
• ⲥⲧⲉⲫⲁⲛⲟⲥ (Step(h)anos), ⲥⲧⲉⲫⲁⲛⲉ (Step(h)ana), ⲥⲉⲧⲉⲡⲫⲉⲛ (Sedephen) – Coptic
• Сцяпан/Sciapan – Belarusian
• Ычтапан/Içtapan – Tatar
• სტეფანე (Stepane) – Georgian
• Ստեփանոս (Stepan), diminutive: Փանոս (Panos) – Armenian
• סטיבן (Stiven), סטפן (Stefan) – Hebrew
• እስጢፋኖስ (Estefanos) – Amharic
• እስቲፋኖስ (Estifanos) – Tigrinya

People with the name

• List of people with given name Stephen
• Stephen (surname), including a list of people with the surname

Popularity

In the United Kingdom, it peaked during the 1950s and 1960s as one of the top ten male first names (ranking third in 1954) but had fallen to twentieth by 1984 and had fallen out of the top one hundred by 2002. The name was ranked 201 in the United States in 2009, according to the Social Security Administration. The name reached its peak popularity in 1951 but remained very common through the mid-1990s, when popularity started to decrease in the United States.

In England and Wales, neither "Stephen" nor "Steven" was among the top 100 names for newborn boys in 2003–2007. In Scotland, "Steven" and "Stephen" were the eighth and tenth most popular names for newborn boys in 1975, but were not in the top ten in 1900, 1950 or 2000. "Stephen" was 68th in 1900, and 46th in 1950, while "Steven" was not in the top 100 either year. Neither spelling was in the top 100 names for newborn boys in Scotland in 2008.

In the United States, the spelling "Stephen" reached its peak of popularity between 1949 and 1951, when it was the 19th most popular name for newborn boys. It stayed in the top 100 boys' names from 1936 through 2000, and for most years between 1897 and 1921. In 2008 it was the 192nd most common name for boys. The spelling "Steven" reached its peak during 1955–1961, when it was the tenth most popular name for newborn boys. It stayed in the top 100 boys' names from 1941 through 2007. In 2008 it was the 104th most popular name for boys. Before the 20th century, the "Steven" spelling was heavily outweighed by "Stephen", never reaching above 391st.

References

References

1. ''Stephen'' was ranked 246th among male names in the United States in 2015, and 357th in England and Wales ([http://www.behindthename.com/name/stephen/top/united-states source]); ''Steven'' was ranked 154th in the United States and 403rd in England and Wales ([http://www.behindthename.com/name/steven/top/united-states source]). ''Stephen'', however, is the form more often used in historical contexts, and almost exclusively the form used for the saint.
2. "Online Etymology Dictionary". Etymonline.com.
3. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dste%2Ffanos στέφανος], Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, ''A Greek–English Lexicon'', on Perseus
4. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text.jsp?greek.display=UnicodeC&arabic.display=UnicodeC&language=original&navbar.display=show&doc=Hom.+Il.+13.736&fromdoc=null Homer, Iliad, 13.736], on Perseus
5. Campbell, Mike. "Meaning, origin and history of the name Esteban".
6. Campbell, Mike. "Meaning, origin and history of the name Estevão".
7. Campbell, Mike. "Meaning, origin and history of the name Esteve".
8. Campbell, Mike. "Meaning, origin and history of the name Estevo".
9. Campbell, Mike. "Meaning, origin and history of the name Étienne".
10. Campbell, Mike. "Meaning, origin and history of the name Stéphane".
11. Campbell, Mike. "Meaning, origin and history of the name István".
12. Campbell, Mike. "Meaning, origin and history of the name Estebe".
13. Campbell, Mike. "Meaning, origin and history of the name Stiofán".
14. Campbell, Mike. "Meaning, origin and history of the name Štefan".
15. Campbell, Mike. "Meaning, origin and history of the name Stefanus".
16. Campbell, Mike. "Meaning, origin and history of the name Stephan".
17. Campbell, Mike. "Meaning, origin and history of the name Ștefan".
18. Campbell, Mike. "Meaning, origin and history of the name Szczepan".
19. Campbell, Mike. "Meaning, origin and history of the name Stefano".
20. Campbell, Mike. "Meaning, origin and history of the name Stefán".
21. Campbell, Mike. "Meaning, origin and history of the name Staffan".
22. Campbell, Mike. "Meaning, origin and history of the name Steffan".
23. Campbell, Mike. "Meaning, origin and history of the name Steffen".
24. Campbell, Mike. "Meaning, origin and history of the name Štěpán".
25. Campbell, Mike. "Meaning, origin and history of the name Steponas".
26. Campbell, Mike. "Meaning, origin and history of the name Steaphan".
27. Campbell, Mike. "Meaning, origin and history of the name Stjepan".
28. "Name Stevko @ Acta Croatica".
29. Campbell, Mike. "Meaning, origin and history of the name Tahvo".
30. Campbell, Mike. "Meaning, origin and history of the name Tipene".
31. Campbell, Mike. "Meaning, origin and history of the name Stefanos".
32. Campbell, Mike. "Meaning, origin and history of the name Stepan".
33. Campbell, Mike. "Meaning, origin and history of the name Stefan".
34. Campbell, Mike. "Meaning, origin and history of the name Stevo".
35. "Татарская диалектология".
36. Campbell, Mike. "Meaning, origin and history of the name Stepane".
37. "Amharic Names That Start With E".
38. "Stephen – Meaning And Origin Of The Name Stephen". BabyNames.co.uk.
39. [http://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/popularnames.cgi Popular Baby Names], Social Security Online
40. "Popularity of Stephen in the United States". Babynametrain.com.
41. [http://www.statistics.gov.uk/specials/babiesnames_boys.asp Top 100 names for baby boys in England and Wales] {{webarchive. link. (May 22, 2011 , National Statistics, 2009.)
42. [http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/statistics/publications-and-data/occpapers/popular-forenames-in-scotland-1900-2000.html ''Popular Forenames in Scotland, 1900–2000''] {{Webarchive. link. (2009-06-08 , General Register Office, Scotland, Occasional Paper No. 2, 2001.)
43. Table: [http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/files1/stats/name6.pdf The Top 100 Names: 1900] {{webarchive. link. (2011-01-01 , in ''Popular Forenames in Scotland, 1900–2000'', General Register Office, Scotland, Occasional Paper No. 2, 2001.)
44. Table: [http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/files1/stats/name2.pdf The Top 100 Names: 1950] {{webarchive. link. (2009-06-12 , in ''Popular Forenames in Scotland, 1900–2000'', General Register Office, Scotland, Occasional Paper No. 2, 2001.)
45. Table: [http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/files2/stats/popular-forenames/pop-names-2008-table1.pdf Top 100 boys' and girls' names, Scotland, 2008, showing changes since 2007] {{webarchive. link. (2011-06-14 , in ''[http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/statistics/publications-and-data/popular-names/popular-forenames-babies-first-names-2008/list-of-detailed-tables.html Popular Forenames – Babies' First Names 2008] {{webarchive). link. (2010-04-20 '', General Register Office, Scotland, 2009.)
46. [http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/ Popular baby names], U.S. Social Security Administration, 2009.

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