Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the

Book of Acts The Acts of the Apostles ( grc-koi, Πράξεις Ἀποστόλων, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; la, Actūs Apostolōrum) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of its message ...

, was stoned to death; he is widely regarded as the first martyr (or " protomartyr") of the

Christian Church In ecclesiology, the Christian Church is what different Christian denominations conceive of as being the true body of Christians or the original institution established by Jesus. "Christian Church" has also been used in academia as a synonym fo ...

. In English, Stephen is most commonly pronounced as ' (). The name, in both the forms Stephen and Steven, is often shortened to

Steve ''yes'Steve is a masculine given name, usually a short form (hypocorism) of Steven or Stephen Notable people with the name include: steve jops * Steve Abbott (disambiguation), several people * Steve Adams (disambiguation), several people * Steve ...

or Stevie. The spelling as Stephen can also be pronounced which is from the Greek original version, Stephanos. In English, the female version of the name is Stephanie. Many surnames are derived from the first name, including Stephens, Stevens, Stephenson, and Stevenson, all of which mean "Stephen's (son)". In modern times the name has sometimes been given with intentionally non-standard spelling, such as Stevan or Stevon. A common variant of the name used in English is Stephan ; related names that have found some currency or significance in English include Stefan (pronounced or in English), Esteban (often pronounced ), and the Shakespearean Stephano ().

Origins

The name "Stephen" (and its common variant "Steven") is derived from Greek (), a first name from the Greek word (), meaning 'wreath, crown' and by extension 'reward, honor, renown, fame', from the verb (), 'to encircle, to wreathe'. In Ancient Greece, crowning wreaths (such as laurel wreaths) were given to the winners of contests. Originally, as the verb suggests, the noun had a more general meaning of any "circle"—including a circle of people, a circling wall around a city, and, in its earliest recorded use, the circle of a fight, which is found in the Iliad of Homer.

In other languages

Like all biblical names, Stephen has forms in other world languages. Among them are: * '' Esteban'' (Spanish, Filipino, Basque) * ''Estepan'', ''Estebe'', ''Extiban'' * ''Estebão '' (

Old Portuguese Galician-Portuguese ( gl, galego-portugués or ', pt, galego-português or ), also known as Old Portuguese or as Medieval Galician when referring to the history of each modern language, was a West Iberian Romance language spoken in the Middle ...

) * ''Ixtebe'' ( Basque) * ''Estevan'' (

Old Spanish Old Spanish, also known as Old Castilian ( es, castellano antiguo; osp, romance castellano ), or Medieval Spanish ( es, español medieval), was originally a dialect of Vulgar Latin spoken in the former provinces of the Roman Empire that provided ...

) * ''Estêvão'' ( Portuguese) * ''Esteve'' ( Catalan) * ''Estevo'' ( Galician) * '' Étienne'' ("

Estienne Estienne is a French surname or given name. Notable people with the name include: Given name * Estienne or Étienne de La Boétie (1530–1563), French philosopher, judge and writer * Estienne Grossin (), French composer * Estienne de La Roche (147 ...

" is an archaic spelling), '' Stéphan'', '' Stéphane'', '' Stéphen'', ''Stéfane'', ''Stéphanne'' (

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

) * ''İstefanos'', ''Stefan'' (

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

) * ''İstfan'', ''Stepan'' ( Azeri) * '' István'', ''Stefán, Csépán'' ( Hungarian) * ''Stefan'', ''Shtjefën'', ''Fan'', ''Sven'' ( Albanian language) * '' Staffan'', ''Stefan'', '' Sven'' (

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

) * ''Steabhán'', ''Stíofán'', ''Stiofán'' ( Irish) * ''

Stefán Stefán is a common first name in Iceland. According to Icelandic name, Icelandic custom, people are generally referred to by first and middle names and patronyms are used if disambiguation is required. ''Stefán'' is the Icelandic version of the ...

'' ( Icelandic) * ''Stefano'' (

Esperanto Esperanto ( or ) is the world's most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Created by the Warsaw-based ophthalmologist L. L. Zamenhof in 1887, it was intended to be a universal second language for international communi ...

) * '' Stefano'' ( Italian) * '' Ștefan'', with the diminutives ''Ștefănel'', ''Ștefăniță'', ''Ștefănuț'' ( Romanian) * ''Štefan'' ( Slovak) * ''Štefan'' ( Slovene) * ''Stefan'', ''Stefaan'', ''Stefans'', ''Steven'', ''Stephan'' ( Afrikaans, Dutch) * ''Stefan'', ''Stephan'', ''Steffen'' ( German) * ''Stefan'', ''Szczepan'' ( Polish) * ''Steffan'', ''Stifyn'', ''Stîfyn'' (

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

) * ''Steffen'' ( Norwegian) * ''Steffen'', ''Stephen'', ''Stefan'', ''Stephan'' ( Danish) * ''Štěpán'' ( Czech) * ''Stefanus'', '' Stephanus'' ( Latin) * ''Stefans'', ''Stepans'', ''Stepons'', ''Stīvens'' ( Latvian) * ''

Steponas Steponas (shortened as Stepas) is a Lithuanian masculine given name. It is a cognate of the English language name Stephen, and may refer to: * Steponas Babrauskas (born 1984), a Lithuanian professional basketball player * Steponas Darašius (1896� ...

'', ''Stepas'' (

Lithuanian Lithuanian may refer to: * Lithuanians * Lithuanian language * The country of Lithuania * Grand Duchy of Lithuania * Culture of Lithuania * Lithuanian cuisine * Lithuanian Jews as often called "Lithuanians" (''Lita'im'' or ''Litvaks'') by other Jew ...

) * ''Stefan'', ''Steven'' ( Breton) * ''Stiefnu'' (

Maltese Maltese may refer to: * Someone or something of, from, or related to Malta * Maltese alphabet * Maltese cuisine * Maltese culture * Maltese language, the Semitic language spoken by Maltese people * Maltese people, people from Malta or of Malte ...

) * ''Stìobhan, Stìophan, Stèaphan'' ( Scottish Gaelic) * '' Stjepan, Stipan, Stipe, Stipo, Stipa, Štef'', ''Stevko'', ''Stevo'' ( Croatian) * ''Tapani'', ''Teppana'', ''Teppo'' ( Finnish) * ''Tehvan'' (

Estonian Estonian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe * Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent * Estonian language * Estonian cuisine * Estonian culture See also

...

) * ''Steffen'', ''Sven'' ( Norwegian) *ⲥⲧⲉⲫⲁⲛⲟⲥ (''Step(h)anos''), ⲥⲧⲉⲫⲁⲛⲉ (''Step(h)ana''), ⲥⲉⲧⲉⲡⲫⲉⲛ (''Sedephen'') ( Coptic) * סטיבן (''Stiven''), סטפן (''stefan''); ( Hebrew) * Στέφανος (''Stephanos'', ''Stefanos'', ''Stephanas'', ''Stepfan'', ''Stephano'', ''Stephanus''; Greek) * Степан (''Stepan,'' the most common; Ukrainian), Стефан (''Stefan'') * Стефан (''Stefan''), diminutive: Чефо (''Chefo''), Стефчо (''Stefcho''), Стефо (''Stefo''), ( Bulgarian) * Стефан/Stefan, Стеван/Stevan, Степан/Stepan, Стјепaн/Stjepan, Шћепан/Šćepan, Стево/Stevo, Стијепо/Stijepo, Шћепо/Šćepo, Стевица/Stevica (

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * someone or something related to Serbia, a country in Southeastern Europe * someone or something related to the Serbs, a South Slavic people * Serbian language * Serbian names See also

* * * Old Serbian (disambiguat ...

) * Стефан/Stefan, Стеван/Stevan, Шћепан/Šćepan ( Montenegrin) * Стефан/Stefan, Стеван/Stevan, Стево/Stevo, Стефо/Stefo, Стефче/Stefche (

Macedonian Macedonian most often refers to someone or something from or related to Macedonia. Macedonian(s) may specifically refer to: People Modern * Macedonians (ethnic group), a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group primarily associated with North M ...

) * Степан/''Stepan'', Stepa, Stepane, Stepanya, Stepka, Stipan ( Russian) * Сцяпан/''Sciapan'' (

Belarusian Belarusian may refer to: * Something of, or related to Belarus * Belarusians, people from Belarus, or of Belarusian descent * A citizen of Belarus, see Demographics of Belarus * Belarusian language * Belarusian culture * Belarusian cuisine * Byelor ...

) * Ычтапан/Içtapan ( Tatar) * ''İstfan, Stepan'' ( Azeri) * ''Steffeni, Stefani, Stiifaat'' ( Greenlandic) * እስጢፋኖስ (''Estefanos'';

Amharic Amharic ( or ; (Amharic: ), ', ) is an Ethiopian Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amharas, and also serves as a lingua franca for all oth ...

)

People with the name

List of people with given name Stephen This is a list of people with the given name Stephen or Steven: Saints * Saint Stephen (died c. 35), with the title of Protomartyr (lit. "first martyr") due to his distinct fate among the early Christians * Stephen, one of the pair of Christian ...

* Stephen (surname), including a list of people with the surname

Popularity

In the United Kingdom, it peaked during the 1950s and 1960s as one of the top ten male first names (ranking third in 1954) but had fallen to twentieth by 1984 and had fallen out of the top one hundred by 2002. The name was ranked 201 in the United States in 2009, according to the Social Security Administration.Popular Baby Names
Social Security Online The name reached its peak popularity in 1951 but remained very common through the mid-1990s, when popularity started to decrease in the United States. In England and Wales, neither "Stephen" nor "Steven" was among the top 100 names for newborn boys in 2003–2007. In Scotland, "Steven" and "Stephen" were the eighth and tenth most popular names for newborn boys in 1975, but were not in the top ten in 1900, 1950 or 2000. "Stephen" was 68th in 1900, and 46th in 1950, while "Steven" was not in the top 100 either year. Neither spelling was in the top 100 names for newborn boys in Scotland in 2008.Table
Top 100 boys' and girls' names, Scotland, 2008, showing changes since 2007
, in

'', General Register Office, Scotland, 2009. In the United States, the spelling "Stephen" reached its peak of popularity between 1949 and 1951, when it was the 19th most popular name for newborn boys. It stayed in the top 100 boys' names from 1936 through 2000, and for most years between 1897 and 1921. In 2008 it was the 192nd most common name for boys.Popular baby names
U.S. Social Security Administration, 2009. The spelling "Steven" reached its peak during 1955–1961, when it was the tenth most popular name for newborn boys. It stayed in the top 100 boys' names from 1941 through 2007. In 2008 it was the 104th most popular name for boys. Before the 20th century, the "Steven" spelling was heavily outweighed by "Stephen", never reaching above 391st.

References

{{Authority control Given names of Greek language origin English masculine given names Bulgarian masculine given names German masculine given names