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Stephen

 
First Name Origin: Stephen
Home > Library > Literature & Language > First Name Origins

Gender: Masculine
Usage: English Biblical
Pronounced: STEEV-en, STEF-en  

From the Greek name Στεφανος (Stephanos) meaning "crown". Saint Stephen was an early Christian martyr who was stoned to death, as told in Acts in the New Testament. Another Saint Stephen is the patron saint of Hungary, the first Christian king of that country (10th century). This was also the name of kings of England, Serbia, and Poland, as well as ten popes. More recently it is borne by the British physicist Stephen Hawking and the American author Stephen King.

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Wikipedia: Stephen
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For the surname, see Stephen (surname). For the city in Minnesota, see Stephen, Minnesota.
Stephen
StStephen GiacomoCavedone.jpg
Saint Stephen (detail) by Giacomo Cavedone Saint Stephen was the first saint in the Catholic church and his name has great importance for Christians.
Gender Male
Meaning wreath, crown
Origin Greek
Popularity Popular names page
Search Wiktionary Look up Stephen in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Stephen or Steven (pronounced /ˈstiːvən/) is an English masculine first name, derived from the Greek name Στέφανος (Stephanos) meaning "crown, garland", in turn from the Greek word στέφανος (wreath, crown, honour, reward)[1][2]. The use of the noun was first recorded in Homer's Iliad[3]. The name is significant to Christians: according to the Book of Acts in the New Testament, Saint Stephen was a deacon who was stoned to death and is regarded as the first Christian martyr. The name has many variants, which include Stephan, Stevan, Stefan, and Stevon.

In Middle English, the name Stephen or Stephan was pronounced as a bi-syllabic word — Step-hen or Step-han — much like a Scandinavian surname. Steve was pronounced as it is in Modern English. This etymological usage has fallen out of practice in the last 150 years.

Steve is the common short form and various diminutives such as Stevie are also used. Many family names are derived from Stephen: the most common are Stephens/Stevens and Stephenson/Stevenson (others include Stephen, Stephan, Stefan, Stevin, and Stever).

The female version of the name is Stephanie.

For Stephen as a surname see Stephen (surname), Stephenson and Stevenson.

Contents

List of alternates

Historical figures known by the name Stephen

Note: to find people with the given name Stephen who are also known by another name, see All pages beginning with "Stephen".

Saints

Royalty

Church figures

Other

Popularity

The spelling "Stephen" reached its peak of popularity in the United States in the period 1949–1951, when it was the 19th most popular name for newborn boys. It stayed in the top 100 boys' names from 1936 through 2000, and for most years between 1897 and 1921. In 2008 it was the 192nd most popular name for boys.[4]

The spelling "Steven" reached its peak of popularity in the United States in the period 1955–1961, when it was the 10th most popular name for newborn boys. It stayed in the top 100 boys' names from 1941 through 2007. In 2008 it was the 104th most popular name for boys. Before the 20th century, the "Steven" spelling was heavily outweighed by "Stephen", never reaching above 391st.[4]

In England and Wales, neither "Stephen" nor "Steven" was among the top 100 names for newborn boys in 2003–2007.[5] In Scotland, "Steven" and "Stephen" were the 8th and 10th most popular names for newborn boys in 1975, but were not in the top ten in 1900, 1950, or 2000.[6] "Stephen" was 68th in 1900,[7] and 46th in 1950,[8] while "Steven" was not in the top 100 either year. Neither spelling was in the top 100 names for newborn boys in Scotland in 2008.[9] Neither "Stephen" nor "Steven" was among top 25 most popular baby boys' names in Ireland in 2006 or 2007.[10]

Placenames derived from Stephen

See also

References

  1. ^ http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=Stephen&searchmode=none
  2. ^ [1] Headword "stephanos" on Perseus Project, Tufts University. Retrieved on Nov 13, 2008
  3. ^ [2] Homer, Iliad 13.736 on Perseus Project, Tufts University. Retrieved on Nov 13, 2008
  4. ^ Top 100 names for baby boys in England and Wales, National Statistics, 2009.
  5. ^ Popular Forenames in Scotland, 1900 - 2000, General Register Office, Scotland, Occasional Paper No. 2, 2001.
  6. ^ Table: The Top 100 Names: 1900, in Popular Forenames in Scotland, 1900 - 2000, General Register Office, Scotland, Occasional Paper No. 2, 2001.
  7. ^ Table: The Top 100 Names: 1950, in Popular Forenames in Scotland, 1900 - 2000, General Register Office, Scotland, Occasional Paper No. 2, 2001.
  8. ^ Table: Top 100 boys' and girls' names, Scotland, 2008, showing changes since 2007, in Popular Forenames — Babies' First Names 2008, General Register Office, Scotland, 2009.
  9. ^ Top 25 Babies' Names for Boys, Central Statistics Office Ireland, 2009.

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First Name Origin. Behind the Name. Copyright © Mike Campbell 1996-2005.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Stephen".  Read more