ninan.org

Stephen

Boys' name · Mid-century perennial

Living in the US
~662,200 survival-weighted estimate
2025 rank
#383 among boys
Births in 2025
829 867,669 since 1880
Typical age
56 years, median

Stephen popularity over time

Stephen rank by birth year, 1880–2025Stephen ranked #84 in 1880 and #383 in 2025. Its best rank in the period was #19, in 1949.#100#383best #19 in 194918901920195019802010
Rank among US baby names by birth year, 1880–2025. Lower is more popular; the scale is logarithmic so the top of the chart is not compressed.

1952 is the peak year for Stephen, with 23,082 births. It is present from 1880, the first year of the record. Stephen has spent 95 years inside the national top 100.

In 2025 it ranked #383 with 829 births. The ten-year change is -45%.

Babies named Stephen per yearPeaks at 23,082 births in 1952.23,082 in 1952018901920195019802010
Recorded US births by year. The peak is labelled; the axis starts at zero.

How many people are named Stephen?

About 662,200 people named Stephen are alive in the United States today. SSA has recorded 867,669 births under the name since 1880.

This is a survival-weighted estimate, not a headcount: every recorded birth year is multiplied by the chance someone born that year is still alive, using the SSA period life table. How the estimate works.

How old is the average Stephen?

Median age among living Stephens: 56. The 1950s produced the largest surviving cohort. By the site’s era rules that makes Stephen a mid-century perennial name.

Your Stephen

Ages of living people named StephenHalf of living Stephens are older than 56 and half younger.median 56020406080100
Estimated living bearers by age today. Each bar is a birth year, weighted by the chance someone born then is still alive.

Where Stephen is most common

The name is concentrated in Pennsylvania, at 2.0× the national rate. Massachusetts, West Virginia and Connecticut follow.

Where Stephen is used more than average5 states use the name Stephen more than the national average.Alaska: not over-representedAKMaine: not over-representedMEVermont: not over-representedVTNew Hampshire: not over-representedNHWashington: not over-representedWAIdaho: not over-representedIDMontana: not over-representedMTNorth Dakota: not over-representedNDMinnesota: not over-representedMNIllinois: not over-representedILWisconsin: not over-representedWIMichigan: not over-representedMINew York: not over-representedNYOregon: not over-representedORNevada: not over-representedNVWyoming: not over-representedWYSouth Dakota: not over-representedSDIowa: not over-representedIAIndiana: not over-representedINOhio: not over-representedOHPennsylvania: 2.0× the national ratePANew Jersey: not over-representedNJConnecticut: 1.8× the national rateCTRhode Island: not over-representedRICalifornia: not over-representedCAUtah: not over-representedUTColorado: not over-representedCONebraska: not over-representedNEMissouri: not over-representedMOKentucky: not over-representedKYWest Virginia: 1.9× the national rateWVVirginia: not over-representedVAMaryland: not over-representedMDDelaware: not over-representedDEMassachusetts: 2.0× the national rateMAArizona: not over-representedAZNew Mexico: not over-representedNMKansas: not over-representedKSArkansas: not over-representedARTennessee: not over-representedTNNorth Carolina: not over-representedNCSouth Carolina: not over-representedSCDistrict of Columbia: not over-representedDCOklahoma: not over-representedOKLouisiana: not over-representedLAMississippi: 1.8× the national rateMSAlabama: not over-representedALGeorgia: not over-representedGAHawaii: not over-representedHITexas: not over-representedTXFlorida: not over-representedFL
Same as national3× or more
Location quotient, 2016–2025. Shaded states use the name more than the country does, relative to their own births. Exact figures are in the table below.
States where Stephen is over-represented, 2016–2025. The location quotient compares the state's share of the name with the national share.
StateBirthsvs national rate
Pennsylvania 637 2.0×
Massachusetts 318 2.0×
West Virginia 71 1.9×
Connecticut 142 1.8×
Mississippi 121 1.8×

Stephen in England and Wales

ONS recorded 49 births named Stephen in 2025, ranking it #716. That is 25% lower than five years earlier.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Counts below three are suppressed by ONS.

Where the name Stephen comes from

From Latin Stephanus, from Ancient Greek Στέφανος, from στέφανος (“crown, wreath”), from στέφω (“to put round, to surround”).

Etymology summarised from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0. Wiktionary entry.

Notable people named Stephen

Ordered by how many Wikipedia language editions have an article about them — a measure of reach, not of importance.
NameKnown forYearsEditions
Stephen Hawking British theoretical physicist, cosmologist and author 1942–2018 200
Stephen King American novelist and writer 1947 147
Stephen Harper 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015 1959 111
Stephen Hillenburg American marine science educator and artist 1961–2018 85
Stephen Curry American basketball player 1988 76
Stephen Fry British comedian, actor, writer, presenter, and activist 1957 65
Stephen Jay Gould American biologist and historian of science 1941–2002 65
Stephen Crane American novelist, short story writer, poet, and journalist 1871–1900 64
Photo credits (7)

The sharpest rise. Births under this name jumped from 486 in 1911 to 934 in 1912 — 1.9 times over in a single year.

Birth records contain the rise and nothing about its cause. This site does not supply one.

People and dates from Wikidata (CC0), limited to those with an English Wikipedia article who are known by this name as their first name.

How Stephen is usually spelled

Spellings within one or two letters of each other, and how 2025 births divided between them.
SpellingBirths in 2025Share
Steven 1,261 60%
Stephen this page 829 40%

Names similar to Stephen

Matched by sound and spelling inside this dataset, then ordered by total recorded births. This is not a claim about shared etymology.

Related pages

Get this data

Every number on this page is available as JSON: /api/name/stephen.json. Free to use with attribution (CC BY 4.0).