Steven

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, 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 16 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◐

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

• Spanish given name1.3M records spelled Steven110 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, France, Colombia, Costa Rica

  Languages: Spanish, French, Portuguese

  Also written Stëvën, S'Teven, Stêvên, Stëvên, Stévén

• a separate given name452K records spelled Steven2 spellings in the group

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

  Also written Stéven

• a separate given name74K records spelled Steven15 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Peru

  Also written Stëvēn, Stēvën, Stévèñ, Sťêvëň, Štëvën

• Indonesian given name66K records spelled Steven6 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Indonesia, United States, United Kingdom, Malaysia

  Languages: Indonesian, Malay

  Also written 'Steven, Stevén, Stéven, Šťëvëň

• Hungarian given name23K records spelled Steven8 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Hungary, United States, Finland, United Kingdom

  Languages: Hungarian, Finnish, Estonian

  Also written Stêvën, Stëvën, Stévęn, Stëvëň, Stëvên

• Greek given name22K records spelled Steven4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Greece, United States, United Kingdom, Canada

  Also written Stéven, Στεβεν, Stēven

85 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●

Steven 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.

• Variant of Stephen, reflecting the normal pronunciation of the name in the English-speaking world. Stevie g,° Pet form of Stephen and of Stephanie. A well-known female bearer was the poet Stevie Smith (1902-71), whose baptismal name was Florence Margaret Smith.

  as a name·A concise dictionary of first names

• In English, A male given name from Ancient Greek, variant of Stephen.

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

• In English, from Greek Stephanos 'crown'

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

• In German, Familienname zu Steven/Stephan; zeigt die Verteilung der Schreibform ohne labiale Frikativ-Variation. Bearer count: 441.

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

• In German, Patronymische Form zu Stephan/Stefan; zeigt die Stimmhaftung des Frikativs (v/w statt f/ph). 441 Belege.

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

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) — 146 years between 1880–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Steven Weinbergb. 1933USAmerican theoretical physicist (1933-2021)
• Steven Pinkerb. 1954USCanadian-American cognitive psychologist, linguist, and author, an advocate of evolutionary psychology and the computational theory of the mind
• T. Lateefb. 1955USnot in their usual nameAmerican entrepreneur; co-founder of Apple Inc. (1955–2011)
• Forest Whitakerb. 1961USnot in their usual nameAmerican actor
• Steve Carellb. 1962USnot in their usual nameAmerican actor and comedian (born 1962)
• Steven Soderberghb. 1963USAmerican filmmaker (born 1963)
• Steve Austinb. 1964USnot in their usual nameAmerican professional wrestler and actor
• Matt LeBlancb. 1967USnot in their usual nameAmerican actor
• Edgar Davidsb. 1973NLnot in their usual nameDutch association football player and manager
• Steven Pienaarb. 1982ZASouth African footballer

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 · 1,645 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Steven?

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

In which country does Steven have the most bearers?

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

Where is Steven most common?

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

How common is Steven compared with other names?

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

Is Steven a male or female name?

Steven 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 Steven mean?

Recorded meaning: Scots form of Stephen/Steven, with the v-form more typical in Scots; Alexander Stevyn recorded at Glenboy in 1472.