Stephan

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Stefan in DE Germany, RO Romania, PL Poland and 5 more, Stephen in GB United Kingdom, AU Australia, PH Philippines and 3 more, Steven in US United States, CA Canada, IT Italy and Степан in UA Ukraine, RU Russia, KZ Kazakhstan.

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 13 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◐

Stephan is also recorded as 6 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• a separate given name35K records spelled Stephan3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, India, Switzerland, United Kingdom

  Also written Stéphan, Stęphan

• Spanish given name30K records spelled Stephan8 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Spain, Argentina, Colombia

  Also written Stéphan, Stephán, Stëphan, Stéphàn, Stéphãñ

• Hindi given name11K records spelled Stephan5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in India, United States, Switzerland, United Kingdom

  Languages: Hindi, Urdu

  Also written Stéphan

• Finnish given name2.8K records spelled Stephan3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Finland, Switzerland, United States, Netherlands

  Languages: Finnish, Estonian

  Also written Stéphan

• Indonesian given name2.7K records spelled Stephan4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Indonesia, India, Tanzania

  Also written Stéphan, Stéphâñ, Stèphan

• Czech given name1.3K records spelled Stephan4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Czechia, Slovakia, United States, Switzerland

  Languages: Czech, Slovak

  Also written Stéphan, Štephan

73 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●

Stephan 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 German, From Greek Stephanos ‘wreath, crown’; plate shows labial fricative variation in the spelling. 11057 bearers.

  as a name·Deutscher Familiennamenatlas, Band 2: Graphematik/Phonologie der Familiennamen II, Konsonantismus

• In French, From Greek Stephanos, “crown”; linked to St Stephen, feast day 26 Dec.

  as a name·Dictionnaire généalogique des prénoms

• Variant of Stephen, preserving the ~ vowels of the Greek name.

  as a name·A concise dictionary of first names

• In English, An unincorporated community in Hyde County, South Dakota.

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

• In German, a male given name, variant of Stefan

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

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) — 123 years between 1895–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Stefan Uroš IV Dušanb. 1308RSnot in their usual nameemperor of Serbia 1331–1355
• Stefan Lazarevićb. 1374RSnot in their usual namepoet and writer (1374-1427)
• Stefan Janevb. 1960BGnot in their usual nameBulgarian Prime Minister, and brigadier general
• Stephan Elliottb. 1964AUAustralian film director
• Patrick Kluivertb. 1976NLnot in their usual nameDutch football manager
• Stephan Andersenb. 1981DKDanish footballer
• Prince Ernst August of Hanoverb. 1983DEnot in their usual nameHanoverian prince (born 1983)
• Stephan Lichtsteinerb. 1984CHSwiss footballer
• Stephan El Shaarawyb. 1992ITItalian association football player (born 1992)
• Stephan Jamesb. 1993CACanadian film and television actor

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 · 1,002 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Stephan?

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

In which country does Stephan have the most bearers?

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

Where is Stephan most common?

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

How common is Stephan compared with other names?

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

Is Stephan a male or female name?

Stephan 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 Stephan mean?

Recorded meaning: German surname from Stephan/Stefan < gr.