Steven

What Steven means

Means “crown, wreath”

Inherited from Middle English Stevene, Steven, from Anglo-Norman Estievne, Estievene, from Latin Stephanus, from Ancient Greek Στέφανος (Stéphanos), from στέφανος (stéphanos, “crown, wreath”), from στέφω (stéphō, “to put round, to surround”

Source: Wiktionary, “Steven” (revision 94543728), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Steven?

US: Falling: down from #153 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #403 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1955, when 37,847 boys got the name (#10 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 1,355 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 8,772 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 1,511 baby boys in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in NH (1.55 per 1,000 boys), NJ (1.53 per 1,000 boys), PA (1.44 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Steven is #271 in the US and #976 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Steven were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Stephen829 US · 49 E&W
• Stefan219 US · 95 E&W
• Stiven23 US
• Stefon16 US
• Stevan12 US
• Steeven8 US
• Stefen8 US
• Steffen5 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Steven

Boys

• Gregory#593“watchful, vigilant”^*
• Timothy#203“to honour + god”^*
• Dennis#707“follower of (the wine god) Dionysus”^*
• Phillip#651Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1960, with 6,047 babies; 425 in 2025
• Christopher#68“carrier of Christ”^*
• Zachary#216“Yahweh has remembered”^*

For a sister

• Christina#770Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1985, with 16,600 babies; 352 in 2025
• Melissa#419“bee, honey, or honeybee”^*
• Nicole#382Form of Nicholas, meaning “victory + people”^*
• Kathryn#729Variant of Catherine, possibly meaning “each of the two”^*
• Katherine#186Variant of Catherine, possibly meaning “each of the two”^*
• Sara#198Variant of Sarah, meaning “masters, princes”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Greek, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Steven’s. Rank is US 2025.