Stephan
A masculine name of Greek origin meaning "crown" or "wreath".
Name Census estimates that about 23,863 living Americans carry the first name Stephan. It is a predominantly male name (99.2% of registrations). The average person named Stephan today is around 46 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Stephan births was 1989 (579 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Stephan. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Stephan with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Stephan is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 229 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
24K
~ 1 in 14,363 Americans
Peak year
1989
579 babies that year
Average age
46
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,723
Tracked since 1895
Census
Stephan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 24,265 people with the first name Stephan, which placed it at #1,416 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#1,416
National first-name rank
People counted
24K
24,265 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
8.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
67.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Stephan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Stephan is White at 67.1%. The next largest groups are Black (17.4%) and Hispanic (8.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Stephan described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Stephan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White67.1% · 16,284
- Black or African American17.4% · 4,224
- Hispanic or Latino8.3% · 2,022
- Two or more races4.0% · 981
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.1% · 512
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 242
Gender
Gender distribution for Stephan
Out of the 27,814 babies given the name Stephan since 1880, 99.2% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Stephan as a male name
- Ranked #1,723 in 2024
- 96 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1989 (579 births)
Stephan as a female name
- Ranked #10,403 in 1995
- 8 female births in 1995
- Peak: 1972 (18 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Stephan leans strongly male. 24,003 people counted with this name were male (99.0%), compared with 253 female bearers (1.0%).
Popularity
Stephan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Stephan from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 4,502 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Stephan by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Stephan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Stephans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 46 states and territories. California, New York, Illinois recorded the most babies named Stephan, while South Dakota, New Hampshire, Maine recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 493 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Stephan
The given name Stephan has its origins in the Greek language, derived from the word "stephanos," meaning "crown" or "wreath." This name traces its roots back to ancient Greece, where it was likely used as a symbol of victory or achievement.
In the early Christian era, Stephan gained significance as the name of the first Christian martyr, Saint Stephen, who was stoned to death for his faith in Jerusalem around 34 AD. His story is recorded in the Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament, and his martyrdom played a pivotal role in the spread of Christianity.
Stephan was a popular name among early Christians, and it spread throughout Europe during the Middle Ages. In England, the name was spelled as Stephen, while in other parts of Europe, variations like Stefan, Stefano, and Esteban were used.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Stephan is in the 11th century, when Stephen IX became Pope in 1057. Another notable figure was Stephen of Blois, a French nobleman and crusader who lived from around 1045 to 1102.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Stephan or its variations. These include Stephen I, the first king of Hungary, who reigned from 1000 to 1038 and played a crucial role in the Christianization of the country.
In the arts, Stephen Crane (1871-1900) was an American novelist and poet best known for his works, such as "The Red Badge of Courage." Stéphane Mallarmé (1842-1898) was a French poet and a major figure in the Symbolist movement.
In the scientific realm, Stephen Hawking (1942-2018) was a renowned British theoretical physicist and cosmologist, known for his groundbreaking work on black holes and the origins of the universe.
Another notable bearer of the name was Stephen F. Austin (1793-1836), an American empresario and the founder of Anglo-American settlement in Texas, known as the "Father of Texas."
These are just a few examples of the many influential individuals throughout history who have borne the name Stephan or its variations, illustrating its enduring presence across various cultures and fields.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Stephan
People
Stephan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Stephan as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with S
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Stephan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Stephan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 23,863 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Stephan going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 14,363 US residents.
Is Stephan a common name?
We classify Stephan as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 27,814 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Stephan most popular?
The single biggest year for Stephan was 1989, when 579 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Stephan is about 46 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Stephan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 24,265 people with the name Stephan, or 8.03 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,416 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Stephan in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Stephan?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Stephan leans strongly male. 24,003 people counted with this name were male (99.0%), compared with 253 female bearers (1.0%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Stephan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Stephan is White at 67.1%. The next largest groups are Black (17.4%) and Hispanic (8.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Stephan most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Stephan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 67.1% (16,284 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Stephan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Stephan a male name?
Yes, 99.2% of people registered as Stephan in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Stephan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Stephan in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Stephan can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have Stephan as a first name?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Stephan, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.