Stephens
A masculine given name derived from the Greek "Stephanos", meaning "crown".
Name Census estimates that about 262 living Americans carry the first name Stephens. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Stephens today is around 60 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Stephens births was 1953 (22 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Stephens. 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.
People living today
262
~ 1 in 1,308,223 Americans
Peak year
1953
22 babies that year
Average age
60
years old
1992 SSA rank
#6,616
Tracked since 1913
Census
Stephens in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 346 people with the first name Stephens, which placed it at #26,749 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
#26,749
National first-name rank
People counted
346
346 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
67.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Stephens
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Stephens is White at 67.6%. The next largest groups are Black (19.7%) and Hispanic (6.1%). 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 Stephens 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 Stephens at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White67.6% · 234
- Black or African American19.7% · 68
- Hispanic or Latino6.1% · 21
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.3% · 15
- Two or more races1.4% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 3
Popularity
Stephens: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Stephens from the 1910s through to the 1990s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 98 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
Stephens 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 Stephens during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Stephens' live
Origin
Meaning and history of Stephens
The name Stephens has its origins in the Greek language, with the root word "stephanos" meaning "crown" or "wreath." It was a popular name in ancient Greece and was often associated with victory, honor, and achievement.
The name Stephens gained widespread recognition during the early Christian era, as it was borne by several prominent figures in the Bible. One of the most notable was St. Stephen, who is revered as the first Christian martyr and is mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles. His martyrdom is believed to have occurred around the year 34 AD.
Over the centuries, the name Stephens has been adapted and translated into various languages, leading to different spellings such as Stefan, Stéphane, Esteban, and Stephan. These variations have been embraced by various cultures and regions, further contributing to the name's rich history.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Stephens can be found in the writings of the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, who lived in the 5th century BC. He mentioned an individual named Stephanos, who was a prominent citizen of Athens.
Throughout history, many notable individuals have borne the name Stephens. One of the most famous was Stephen I, also known as St. Stephen of Hungary, who reigned as the first King of Hungary from 1000 to 1038 AD. His efforts to establish Christianity in Hungary and promote education earned him the title of "Apostolic King."
Another significant figure was Stephen Langton (c. 1150 - 1228), an English cardinal and Archbishop of Canterbury. He played a crucial role in the development of the Magna Carta, which laid the foundations for modern constitutional principles.
The Italian explorer and navigator Stephano da Campofregoso (c. 1323 - 1384) was also a notable bearer of the name. He is credited with leading one of the earliest European expeditions to the Arctic regions, exploring the coast of Greenland and parts of North America.
In the realm of literature, the name Stephens is associated with the Irish writer and poet James Stephens (1882 - 1950), renowned for his works such as "The Crock of Gold" and "Deirdre."
Lastly, the 20th century saw the emergence of Stephen Hawking (1942 - 2018), the renowned British theoretical physicist and cosmologist, whose groundbreaking work on black holes and the origins of the universe has left an indelible mark on the scientific community.
People
Stephens + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Stephens 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
Stephens: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Stephens?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 262 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Stephens 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 1,308,223 US residents.
Is Stephens a common name?
We classify Stephens as "Very Rare". It ranks above 77.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 391 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Stephens most popular?
The single biggest year for Stephens was 1953, when 22 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Stephens is about 60 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Stephens in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 346 people with the name Stephens, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #26,749 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 Stephens 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 Stephens?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Stephens leans strongly male. 299 people counted with this name were male (87.9%), compared with 41 female bearers (12.1%). 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 Stephens?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Stephens is White at 67.6%. The next largest groups are Black (19.7%) and Hispanic (6.1%). 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 Stephens most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Stephens in the 2020 Census, accounting for 67.6% (234 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 Stephens in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Stephens a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Stephens 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 Stephens still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Stephens 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 Stephens 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 Americans are named Stephens?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.