Stefan

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Stephen in GB United Kingdom, AU Australia, PH Philippines and 3 more, Steven in US United States, CA Canada, IT Italy, Степан in UA Ukraine, RU Russia, KZ Kazakhstan and Stephanie in BE Belgium, AR Argentina, MX Mexico.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 5 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Stefan is also recorded as 5 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Romanian given name53K records spelled Stefan9 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Romania, United States, Spain, United Kingdom

  Also written Ștefan, Stéfan, Stefán, Štefan

• Finnish given name34K records spelled Stefan6 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Finland, Sweden, Estonia, United States

  Languages: Finnish, Estonian

  Also written Štefan, Ştefan, Ștefan, Stefán

• a separate given name17K records spelled Stefan8 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, India, Switzerland, Romania

  Also written Ștefan, Ştefan, Štefan, Stéfan, Ṣtefan

• Indonesian given name5.4K records spelled Stefan7 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Indonesia, United States, Netherlands, Romania

  Languages: Indonesian, Malay

  Also written Ştefan, Ștefan, Štefan, Stefán, Stéfan

• Turkish given name4.6K records spelled Stefan9 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Türkiye, Romania, Netherlands, Serbia

  Languages: Turkish, Azerbaijani

  Also written Ştefan, Ștefan, Štefan, Stéfan, Stéfàñ

79 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Stefan is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In English, Swedish form of Stephen; crown or garland

  as a name·Baby names, 25,350 baby names nicknames for your family, friends pets, including the top 100 names, 2,000 most popular…

• From Greek. See }Stephen in main dictionary.

  as a name·A concise dictionary of first names

• In German, a male given name, feminine equivalent Stefanie or Stephanie, equivalent to English Stephen; variant form Steffen

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In Polish, a male given name from Latin [in turn from Ancient Greek], equivalent to English Stephen

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In Italian, redução dialetal setentrional de Stefano

  as a name·Dicionário dos sobrenomes italianos

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 114 years between 1910–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Stephen IVb. 770ITnot in their usual namepope
• Burt Lancasterb. 1913USnot in their usual nameAmerican actor (1913–1994)
• Stephen Breyerb. 1938USnot in their usual nameUS Supreme Court justice from 1994 to 2022
• Stephen Jay Gouldb. 1941USnot in their usual nameAmerican biologist and historian of science (1941–2002)
• Stephen Hawkingb. 1942GBnot in their usual nameBritish theoretical physicist, cosmologist and author (1942–2018)
• Steve Martinb. 1945USnot in their usual nameAmerican comedian, actor, musician and writer (born 1945)
• Yusuf Islamb. 1948GBnot in their usual nameBritish musician (born 1948)
• Steve Irwinb. 1962AUnot in their usual nameAustralian zookeeper, conservationist and TV personality (1962-2006)
• Stefan Edbergb. 1966SESwedish tennis player
• Stefan Kießlingb. 1984DEGerman association football player

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 1,180 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Stefan?

We estimate roughly 2.0 million people bear Stefan (counting its spellings and scripts) across 13 countries in our records.

In which country does Stefan have the most bearers?

Stefan is most frequently recorded in the United Kingdom, where it is most often spelled stephen.

Where is Stefan most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Stefan is densest in Romania — about 1 in 69 people — even though United Kingdom holds more of our records for it.

How common is Stefan compared with other names?

In the United Kingdom, Stefan is the 6th most common given name of 369,273 given names recorded there.

Is Stefan a male or female name?

Stefan is recorded for both men and women. We don't publish a percentage split: a record's gender belongs to the person and is attached to every given name on that record, so names in cultures where a name string also carries a parent's or spouse's given name pick up large cross-gender counts.

What does the name Stefan mean?

Recorded meaning: From Greek Stephanos, “crown”; linked to St Stephen, feast day 26 Dec.