Stephen or Steven is an English

first name First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared an ...

. It is particularly significant to

Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

, as it belonged to

Saint Stephen Stephen (; ) is traditionally venerated as the protomartyr or first martyr of Christianity."St ...

( ), an early disciple and

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Cathol ...

who, according to the

Book of Acts The Acts of the Apostles (, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; ) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of The gospel, its message to the Roman Empire. Acts and the Gospel of Luke make u ...

, was stoned to death; he is widely regarded as the first

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In ...

(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 Christ. "Christian Church" has also been used in academia as a syn ...

. The name, in both the forms Stephen and Steven, is often shortened to

Steve Steve is a masculine given name, usually a short form ( hypocorism) of Steven or Stephen. Notable people A–D * Steve Abbott (disambiguation), several people * Steve Abel (born 1970), New Zealand politician * Steve Adams (disambiguation) ...

or Stevie. In English, the female version of the name is

Stephanie Stephanie is a female name that comes from the Greek name Στέφανος (Stephanos) meaning "crown, wreath, garland". The male form is Stephen. Forms of Stephanie in other languages include the German "Stefanie", the Italian, Czech, Pol ...

. 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 Stevon is a primarily English-language masculine given name, a variant of Stephen Stephen or Steven is an English given name, first name. It is particularly significant to Christianity, Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( ), an early di ...

. 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 Esteban () is a Spanish male given name, derived from Greek Στέφανος (Stéphanos) and related to the English names Steven and Stephen. Although in its original pronunciation the accent is on the penultimate syllable, English-speakers tend ...

(often pronounced ), and the

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

an Stephano ( ).

Origins

The name "Stephen" (and its common variant "Steven") is derived from

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

(), 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 Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically r ...

, crowning wreaths (such as

laurel wreath A laurel wreath is a symbol of triumph, a wreath (attire), wreath made of connected branches and leaves of the bay laurel (), an aromatic broadleaf evergreen. It was also later made from spineless butcher's broom (''Ruscus hypoglossum'') or cher ...

s) 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 The ''Iliad'' (; , ; ) is one of two major Ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odyssey'', the poem is divided into 24 books and ...

Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...

In other languages

Like all biblical names, Stephen has forms in other world languages. Among them are: * ''

'' — Spanish, Filipino * ''Estebão '' — Old Portuguese * ''Estepan'', ''Estebe'', ''Extiban'', ''Estevan'' —

Old Spanish Old Spanish (, , ; ), also known as Old Castilian or Medieval Spanish, refers to the varieties of Ibero-Romance spoken predominantly in Castile and environs during the Middle Ages. The earliest, longest, and most famous literary composition in O ...

* ''Estêvão'' — Portuguese * ''Esteve'' — Catalan * ''Estevo'' — Galician * ''

Étienne Étienne, a French analog of Stephen or Steven, is a masculine given name. An archaic variant of the name, prevalent up to the mid-17th century, is Estienne. Étienne, Etienne, Ettiene or Ettienne may refer to: People Artists and entertainers * ...

'' (" Estienne" is an archaic spelling), '' Stéphan'', '' Stéphane'', '' Stéphen'', ''Stéfane'', ''Stéphanne'' — French * ''İstefanos'', ''Stefan'' — Turkish * ''İstfan'', ''Stepan'' — Azeri * '' István'', ''Stefán, Csépán'' — Hungarian * ''Estebe, Eztebe'' —

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

* ''Sitiveni'' — Fijian * ''Steafán'', ''Stiofán', Steabhán'' — Irish * ''Štefan'' — Slovak, Slovene * ''Stefan'', ''

Shtjefën Shtjefën is an Albanian masculine given name, a form of Stephen, which means "crown" or "wreath". Notable people with the given name include: *Shtjefën Gjeçovi (1874–1929), Albanian Catholic priest, ethnologist and folklorist *Shtjefën Kurti ...

'', ''Fan'' —

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

* ''Stef'', ''Stefan'', ''Stephan'', ''Steven, Stefanus, Steffen'', '' Stefaan'', ''Stefans'' —

Afrikaans Afrikaans is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia and to a lesser extent Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and also Argentina where there is a group in Sarmiento, Chubut, Sarmiento that speaks the Pat ...

, Dutch * ''Stefan'', ''Stephan'', ''Steffen'' —

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

* ''Stefan'', ''Stevan'' — Cornish, as in Eglos''stefan'', Lann''stevan'' * ''Stefan'', ''Steven'' — Breton, as in Sant-Stefan-ar-Roudouz, Gwion Steven * ''

Ștefan Ștefan is the Romanian form of Stephen, used as both a given name and a surname In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically c ...

'', with the diminutives ''Ștefănel'', ''Ștefăniță'', ''Ștefănuț'' — Romanian * ''Stefan'', ''

Szczepan Szczepan is a Polish masculine given name, a form of Stephen, which means "wreath" or "crown". It may also be a surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name *Szczepan of Wierzbna (died 1241), Polish nobleman *Szczepan Bradło (died 196 ...

'' — Polish * '' Stefano'' —

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

Language, Esperanto * ''Stefans'', ''Stepans'', ''Stepons'', ''Stīvens'' — Latvian * ''Stefanus'', '' Stephanus'' —

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

* '' Stefán'' — Icelandic * ''Steven'', ''Stephen'', ''Stefanus'', ''Stefan'' — Indonesian * '' Staffan'', ''Stefan'' — Swedish * ''Steffan'', ''Stifyn'', ''Stîfyn'' — Welsh * ''Steffen'' — Norwegian * ''Steffen'', ''Stephen'', ''Stefan'', ''Stephan'' — Danish * ''Steffeni, Stefani, Stiifaat'' — Greenlandic * ''Štěpán'' —

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

* ''

Steponas Steponas (shortened as Stepas) is a Lithuanian language, 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 *Stepona ...

'', ''Stepas'' — Lithuanian * ''Stiefnu'' — Maltese * ''Stèaphan', Stìobhan, Stìophan'' —

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...

* ''

Stjepan Stjepan is a Croatian masculine given name, variant of Stephen. Historically it was found among ijekavian South Slavs, and it was also used as a honorific. In Croatia, the name Stjepan was among the top ten most common masculine given names in th ...

Stijepo Stijepo is a Croatian masculine given name, a variant of Stjepan, the Serbo-Croatian form of Stephen Stephen or Steven is an English given name, first name. It is particularly significant to Christianity, Christians, as it belonged to Saint Step ...

, Stepan, Stipan, Stipe, Stipo, Stipa, Šćepan, Šćepo, Štef, Stevko, Stevo, Stefan, Stevan, Stevica'' —

Serbo-Croatian Serbo-Croatian ( / ), also known as Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS), is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro. It is a pluricentric language with four mutually i ...

as in Stefan the First-Crowned * ''Tapani'''', Teppo, Tahvo', Teppana'',— Finnish * ''Têphanô, Stêphanô, Êtiên'' — Vietnamese * ''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

...

* '' Tipene'' —

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

* Στέφανος ('' Stephanos'', ''Stefanos'', ''Stephanas'', ''Stepfan'', ''Stephano'', ''Stephanus'' —

* Степан (''Stepan'''','' the most common; Ukrainian), Стефан (''Stefan'') * Степан/''Stepan'', Stepa, Stepka, Stepanya, Stepashka —

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

* Стефан (''Stefan''), diminutive: Чефо (''Chefo''), Стефчо (''Stefcho''), Стефо (''Stefo'') — Bulgarian * Стефан/Stefan, Стеван/Stevan, Стево/Stevo, Стефо/Stefo, Стефче/Stefche — Macedonian * ⲥⲧⲉⲫⲁⲛⲟⲥ (''Step(h)anos''), ⲥⲧⲉⲫⲁⲛⲉ (''Step(h)ana''), ⲥⲉⲧⲉⲡⲫⲉⲛ (''Sedephen'') — Coptic * Сцяпан/''Sciapan'' — Belarusian * Ычтапан/Içtapan — Tatar * სტეფანე (''Stepane'') — Georgian * Ստեփանոս (''Stepan''), diminutive: Փանոս (''Panos'') —

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

* סטיבן (''Stiven''), סטפן (''Stefan'') —

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

* እስጢፋኖስ (''Estefanos'') —

Amharic Amharic is an Ethio-Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amhara people, and also serves as a lingua franca for all other metropolitan populati ...

* እስቲፋኖስ ('' Estifanos'') — Tigrinya

People with the name

List of people with given name Stephen This is a list of people with the given name Stephen, 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 Ch ...

* 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 Masculine given names Bulgarian masculine given names German masculine given names