Sevastian
Masculine · “Greek sebastos”
Sebastian means Augustus. Sebastos was the Greek word the eastern half of the empire used to translate the Latin title Augustus, the venerable one, and Sebastianos meant a man from the city of Sebaste, named for the emperor. The name is an imperial title at two removes.
How old is the name Sevastian?
Sevastian first appears in US birth records in 1988 — 37 years ago. The typical Sevastian alive today was born around 2008, making them about 17 years old. About 500 people named Sevastian are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Sevastian most popular?
Sevastian peaked in 2002, reaching #2943 nationally. Today it ranks #8910, 5,967 places below that high. See the whole 2002 chart.
Where it comes from
From sebastos to Sevastian
The story of Sevastian
When Octavian was granted the title Augustus in 27 BC, the Greek-speaking east needed a word for it, and chose sebastos, from a verb meaning to revere. Cities renamed themselves in his honor using it: Sebaste in Samaria, Sebaste in Pontus, Sebasteia in Cappadocia, each the Greek equivalent of the many Latin Augustas. A man from any of them was a Sebastianos, and one such man, martyred at Rome under Diocletian, made the name a Christian one. So the chain runs from a Roman political settlement to a Greek translation to a provincial city to a demonym to a martyr to a modern given name. Sevastopol, founded in 1783 and named in Greek by Catherine the Great's administration, uses the same word, which is why a Crimean naval base and a boy's name share a root.
Meaning
Greek sebastos, venerable
Sevastian is a spelling of Sebastian, from Greek Sebastianos, a man of Sebaste, from sebastos, venerable or august, which was the standard Greek rendering of the Latin imperial title Augustus. The v spelling follows Greek and Slavic pronunciation, in which the letter beta is said v. The Crimean city Sevastopol carries the same root, meaning venerable city. The peak of this spelling is 2002.
How the name formed
- sebastos
- Sebastianos
- Sebastian
- Sevastian
Related forms: Sebastian · Sevastyan · Sebastian · Sevastianos
Pronouncing Sevastian
seh-VAS-tee-un
Four syllables, stress on the second. The v and b spellings represent the same Greek letter at different periods, so Sebastian and Sevastian are the same name.
Nicknames for Sevastian
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1988
- Most boys named
- 200835 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2943reached in 2002
- Change vs 2024
- −11.1%8 in 2025, from 9
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Sevastian in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Sebastian in English — spelling variant
- Sevastyan in Russian — same name
- Sebastian in Spanish — same name
- Sevastianos in Greek — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California.
Sevastians among us
people named Sevastian are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 213,510 born in 2025 was named Sevastian
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Rj test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Sevastian's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Rj climbed just as high around 1987, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Rj's path sketches the road Sevastian is walking now.
Sevastian sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Sevastian beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Sevastian in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Seb and Bash are both usable short forms.
- The name has a documented history from the Roman empire onward.
- It is recognized in Greek, Slavic and Western traditions alike.
- Sebastian is overwhelmingly the commoner spelling.
- Four syllables is long for everyday use.
- The v will be read as a misspelling by most Americans.
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Sevastian
Masculine · #8910 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Sevastians are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 500 people named Sevastian are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Sevastian in 2025?
- Sevastian ranks #8910 among US boy names in 2025, with 8 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Sevastian?
- About 1 in every 213,510 US boys born in 2025 was named Sevastian — 8 in all.
- Will my child share the name Sevastian with classmates?
- Sevastian will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Sevastian
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Davie#8910 · Ned#8910 · Darious#8910 · Alois#8910 · Len#8910 · Barton#8910 · Desmon#8910 · Winfield#8910
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Sevastian? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Sevastian and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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