Stephen
Feminine · “crown”
Stephen is given to boys far more often — 864,739 boys against 2,930 girls since 1880. See Stephen as a boy name
The first Christian to be executed was killed by a crowd, and the young man minding their coats went on to write a quarter of the New Testament. That detail — the coats at the feet of a man named Saul — is in the text, and it is the hinge on which the whole book turns.
How old is the name Stephen?
Stephen first appears in US birth records in 1912 — 113 years ago. The typical Stephen alive today was born around 1974, making them about 51 years old. About 2,500 people named Stephen are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Stephen most popular?
Stephen peaked in 1967, reaching #1281 nationally. See the whole 1967 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Stephanos to Stephen
The story of Stephen
Acts describes the trial, the speech and the stoning in more detail than it gives almost anything else, and it ends with the note that the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a young man called Saul, who approved. That man becomes Paul a chapter later. The name went into use across Christendom, gave England a king, Hungary its founder and first saint, and a great many popes. The ph and the v spellings in English divide by ancestry rather than fashion: Stephen keeps the Greek letter, Steven writes the sound. Both are old and both are standard.
Meaning
crown, wreath
The Greek word means a wreath or garland, the kind given to a victor rather than worn by a king. The name and the manner of the death have been read together for two thousand years.
How the name formed
- Stephanos
- Stephen
Related forms: Etienne · Esteban · Stefano · Istvan · Stepan · Stefan
Pronouncing Stephen
STEE-vun
Two syllables with the weight at the front. The ph is said as a v, which is unique to this name in English and catches readers out.
Nicknames for Stephen
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
- 1912
- Most girls named
- 198597 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1281reached in 1967
- Change vs 2004
- −40.0%6 in 2007, from 10
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.
Stephen in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Etienne in French — same name
- Esteban in Spanish — same name
- Stefano in Italian — same name
- Istvan in Hungarian — same name
- Stepan in Russian — transliteration
- Stefan in German — same name
Stephens among us
people named Stephen are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Stephen sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- It has a form in every European language and is recognized across all of them.
- Steve is one of the most established short forms in English.
- The meaning is settled, short and easy to explain.
- It has an unbroken run in American records from the first year they were kept.
- Steven is equally standard and will be written instead constantly.
- The ph said as a v is genuinely irregular, and readers who have not met the name will get it wrong.
- The spelling is recorded for a small number of girls, though it reads overwhelmingly as a boy's name.
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What they receive
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Stephen
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Stephens are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,500 people named Stephen are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Stephen in 2025?
- Stephen is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Stephen with classmates?
- Stephen will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More S names
The most-given names starting with S, all years combined.
Susan#1085 · Sarah#90 · Sandra#1207 · Stephanie#557 · Sharon#1250 · Shirley#1581 · Samantha#151 · Sophia#5
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Stephen? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Stephen and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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