Stefan
Masculine · “Crown”
Stefan is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 21,195 boys against 42 girls since 1880.
Stefan is the Continental form of Stephen — the same name the Greek New Testament gives to the first Christian martyr, carried into German, Scandinavian, Polish and Serbian mouths and coming out of each with its own music. Behind it sits the Greek word for a wreath: the circle of leaves handed to winners of races and to the honored dead. It is a name English speakers recognize on sight and still have to ask how to spell.
How old is the name Stefan?
Stefan first appears in US birth records in 1910 — 115 years ago. The typical Stefan alive today was born around 1990, making them about 35 years old. About 19,500 people named Stefan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Stefan most popular?
Stefan peaked in 1991, reaching #339 nationally. Today it ranks #1021, 682 places below that high. See the whole 1991 chart.
Stefan appears on these lists:
Where it comes from
From Stephanos to Stefan
The story of Stefan
The name begins as Greek Stephanos and belongs, in its earliest famous use, to the Stephen of the Acts of the Apostles, remembered as the first Christian martyr. Through Latin Stephanus it spread across every Christian territory in Europe and split into local shapes: Étienne in France, Esteban in Spain, István in Hungary, Szczepan in Poland. The f-spelling Stefan settled into German, the Scandinavian languages, Dutch, Romanian and the Slavic south, where it was borne by a line of medieval Serbian rulers. It reached American records with the great waves of European immigration and has been quietly present ever since, strongest in states that have long absorbed arrivals from abroad.
Meaning
Crown, wreath, garland
From Greek stephanos, the woven wreath given to victors and to the honored — the root also behind the English word for a crown of leaves.
How the name formed
- Stephanos
- Stephanus
- Stephen
- Stefan
Related forms: Stephen · Esteban · Étienne · István · Steffen · Stepan
Pronouncing Stefan
STEF-un
Two syllables with the stress in front is the usual American reading. German speakers say SHTEF-ahn, Scandinavians often stef-AHN with the weight at the end, and Romanian adds a soft sh at the start. Any of these is correct for the name; it helps to decide early which one is yours.
Nicknames for Stefan
High
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
- 1910
- Most boys named
- 1990638 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #339reached in 1991
- Change vs 2023
- −6.4%219 in 2025, from 234
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.
Stefan in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Stephen in English — same name
- Esteban in Spanish — same name
- Étienne in French — same name
- István in Hungarian — same name
- Steffen in German — spelling variant
- Stepan in Russian — transliteration
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Florida, New York.
Stefans among us
people named Stefan are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 7,799 born in 2025 was named Stefan
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Stefan
- #1021
- Stefan on the 2025 chart
- #631
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Stefan went to 219 boys in 2025, but Stephan and Steffan are the same name said out loud. Together the 3 spellings went to 313, which makes it the 631st most-given boys’ name of the year — 390 places above the chart.
About 1 boy in 5,457 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 7,799 for Stefan itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Monty test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Stefan's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Monty climbed just as high around 1961, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Monty's path sketches the road Stefan is walking now.
Stefan 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
Where Stefan is headed
Stefan should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Stefan beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Stefan in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The meaning is not in dispute: the Greek word for a victor's wreath, one of the clearest and oldest meanings in the whole Christian name stock.
- Recognized instantly across German, Scandinavian, Dutch, Polish, Romanian and Serbian, with a local equivalent in nearly every European language.
- Short forms are already established — Stef, Steve, Stevo — so nothing has to be invented.
- Familiar to everyone through Stephen and Steven, while the spelling itself stays uncommon in American classrooms.
- It will be spelled wrong regularly. Stephen, Steven and Stefan all sound close enough in American English that people default to the version they know best, and the correction becomes a lifelong small habit.
- Pronunciation shifts by country — STEF-un, SHTEF-ahn, stef-AHN. Worth settling on one at home, since relatives and teachers will each arrive with their own.
- English speakers may shorten it to Steve, which pulls the name back towards Stephen. Easy enough to redirect to Stef, but expect to do it.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Stefan
Masculine · #1021 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Stefans are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 19,500 people named Stefan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Stefan?
- Stefan is the most-used spelling in US records — 219 of the 313 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Stephan and Steffan.
- How popular is the name Stefan in 2025?
- Stefan ranks #1021 among US boy names in 2025, with 219 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Stefan?
- About 1 in every 7,799 US boys born in 2025 was named Stefan — 219 in all.
- Will my child share the name Stefan with classmates?
- Stefan will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Stefan
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Kamazi#1021 · Bastian#1021 · Maurice#1018 · Yaakov#1024 · Jadiel#1018 · Kooper#1024 · Chozyn#1018 · Gatlin#1026
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Stefan? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Stefan and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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