Given name & surname
Sten
Sten is a surname from North Germanic, ultimately from Norwegian. It is used in English, Swedish, Danish, Estonian, and 1 other language.
Meaning & origin
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Old Norse.
How it developed
From North Germanic Sten, from Danish Sten, from Swedish Sten, from Norwegian Sten.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1945. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Sten through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 170
- 170 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 1965
- 10 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 8 in 2003. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 396 as a first name in 2020; 295 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Sten’s family of names
Sten shares a linguistic root with Stein. In Estonian usage, Sten has a related form in Stefan. Sten has a related form in Stein.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Sten has relatives in 9 languages. Lines run from its Old Norse roots to each of them.
6 related names in 9 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 3
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 12
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
- Stoneequivalent
- Ebenezerequivalent
- Rockequivalent
- Petrosequivalent
- Steencognate · Danish, English
- Πέτροςequivalent
- Teiniläderivative · Finnish
- Steinurcognate · Faroese
Show 4 moreShow fewer
See also 1
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Sten
- Sten Sture the ElderSwedish statesman and military figure (1440-1503)
- Sten Sture the YoungerRegent of Sweden (1493-1520)
- Sten Suvioboxer (1911–1988)
- Sten StensenNorwegian speed skaterborn 1947
- Olle ÅhlundSwedish footballer and manager (1920-1996)
- Sten AnderssonSwedish politician (1923-2006)
- Sten PålssonSwedish footballerborn 1945
- Sten PetterssonSwedish hurdler (1902–1984)
- Sten TolgforsSwedish politicianborn 1966
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Sten, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Stig
“wanderer” · “a voyager; one who is swift”
>99% boys
Ulf
“resembling a wolf”
>99% boys
Tor
“one who is peaceful”
>99% boys
Jens
“God is gracious”
>99% boys
Gandalf
“elf familiar”
>99% boys
Ranald
“the king's advisor”
>99% boys
Ingemar
“the son of Ing”
>99% boys
Swindell
“swine”
>99% boys