Given name & surname
Stephen
“crowned with garland”
Stephen is used as a given name, a surname, and a nickname. One Greek interpretation is “crowned with garland.”
Original GreekΣτέφανος
Meaning & origin
What it means
One Greek interpretation is “crowned with garland.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Greek.
How it developed
In Cebuano usage, Stephen developed from Stephanus. In Cebuano usage, Stephen developed from Στέφανος.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1880. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
In the Bible
In the Bible, the name Stephen appears in Acts 6:5, Acts 7:58, 2 Kings 10:22. It is mentioned 7 times in the New Testament.
- Acts 6:5
- Acts 7:58
- 2 Kings 10:22
From biblical name research
Stephen through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 867,669
- 864,739 boys · 2,930 girls
- Most popular year
- 1952
- 23,082 babies
- 2025
- 829
- #383 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −26%
- Easing
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 829 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 383 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 26.4% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 23,055 in 1952. In 2025, Texas had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (78). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 665,596 as a first name in 2020; 9,333 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.
Stephen’s family of names
In English usage, Stephen has a diminutive in Steve. In English usage, Stephen has a feminine form in Stephanie. In Norwegian Bokmål usage, Stephen has an alternative spelling in Steven.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Stephen has relatives in 45 languages. Lines run from its Ancient Greek roots to each of them.
Ancient Greekwhere Stephen comes from · 1 name
Nicknames & forms 44
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
- Steviediminutive · English
- Stevenvariant · English, Norwegian Bokmål
- Stefanvariant · Polish, German
- Stevediminutive · English
- Stephanvariant · German
- Stefanovariant · Italian, Esperanto
- Stephonvariant · English
- Stefanosvariant · English
Show 36 moreShow fewer
- Stefonvariant
- Stevanvariant
- Stephanovariant
- Steffanvariant · Faroese
- Stevensonvariant · English
- Stephanosvariant
- Steffenvariant · Norwegian Bokmål, German
- Stevonvariant · English
- Stephdiminutive · English
- Stevynvariant
- Stevyvariant
- Steveyvariant
- Stephensonvariant · English
- Stephensvariant
- Steffonvariant
- Stepphenlikely variant
- Stephennlikely variant
- Stiabhnavariant · Irish
- Стефанvariant · Macedonian, Russian
- Tepoydiminutive · ceb
- Steverinonickname · English
- Стеванvariant · Macedonian
- Eapenvariant · English
- Tebandiminutive · ceb
- Penpendiminutive · ceb
- Stevodiminutive · English
- Steeniediminutive · English
- Stepvariant
- Stephanasvariant
- Stefanusvariant
- Stefanasvariant
- Stéphanevariant · French
- Stephanusvariant · Latin
- Stebenvariant
- Stebavariant
- Staffanvariant · Swedish
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 64
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
- Στέφανοςroot · Greek, Ancient Greek
- ΣτίβενGreek
- EstebanSpanish
- Stephaniefeminine form · English
- Etienneequivalent
- Stivenequivalent
- Stefaniefeminine form · English
- Stefenequivalent
Show 52 moreShow fewer
- Stepandoublet · English
- Stefaneequivalent
- Steinpatronymic from · English
- Estefanafeminine form
- Steeveequivalent
- Stephaneequivalent
- Estevecognate · Catalan
- Sztefanequivalent
- ستيفنequivalent
- Сцяпанequivalent
- Штефанequivalent
- Steaonequivalent
- استفانوسequivalent
- Ստեփանոսequivalent
- Stévenequivalent
- Stephensen“son of” surname · English
- СтепанRussian
- Sitefanuborrowing · Yoruba
- 史蒂芬borrowing · Chinese
- استیونderivative · Persian
- 斯蒂芬borrowing · Chinese
- TēpeneMāori
- Tipeneborrowing · Māori, English
- Teppocognate · Finnish
- Tapanicognate · Finnish
- ŠtefanCzech, Slovak
- ŠtěpánCzech
- Stefequivalent
- Stéphanequivalent
- Stepanaizh
- ȘtefanRomanian
- EstevoGalician
- Istváncognate · Hungarian
- StjepanSerbo-Croatian
- ՍտեփանArmenian
- KepanoHawaiian
- StefansLatvian
- SteponasLithuanian
- StefánIcelandic
- İstefanosTurkish
- TīpeneMāori
- StieneWalloon
- EstêvãoPortuguese
- ShtjefënAlbanian
- Stiofáncognate · Irish
- Estèvesee also · Occitan
- Étiennecognate · French
- СтивенMacedonian
- Szczepancognate · Polish
- StiefnuMaltese
- Stépancognate
- Estevãocognate
And 4 more.
See also 1
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Stephen
- Stephen HawkingBritish theoretical physicist, cosmologist and author (1942–2018)
- Stephen KingAmerican novelist and writer (born 1947)
- Grover Cleveland22nd & 24th President of the United States (1885–1889; 1893–1897)1837–1908
- Stephen Harper22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015born 1959
- Steve WozniakAmerican computer pioneer, inventor, computer engineer and programmer; co-founder of Apple Inc.born 1950
- Stephen HillenburgAmerican marine science educator and artist (1961-2018)
- Cat StevensBritish musician (born 1948)
- Stephen Jay GouldAmerican biologist and historian of science (1941–2002)
- Stephen FryBritish comedian, actor, writer, presenter, and activistborn 1957
Characters named Stephen: Doctor Strange (Marvel Comics), Stephen Strange (the Marvel Cinematic Universe), Stephen Dedalus (the works of James Joyce), Stephen Maturin (the Aubrey-Maturin series of novels by Patrick O'Brian).
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Appears in
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