Stephen

Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen (Greek Στέφανος Stéphanos), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; he is widely regarded as the first martyr (or "protomartyr") of the Christian Church. The name "Stephen" (and its more common variant "Steven") is derived from Greek Στέφανος (Stéphanos), a first name from the Greek word στέφανος (stéphanos), meaning "wreath, crown" and by extension "reward, honor", from the verb στέφειν (stéphein), "to encircle, to wreathe". In Ancient Greece, crowning wreaths (such as laurel wreaths) were given to the winners of contests. Originally, as the verb suggests, the noun had a more general meaning of any "circle"—including a circle of people, a circling wall around a city, and, in its earliest recorded use, the circle of a fight, which is found in the Iliad of Homer.
The name, in both the forms Stephen and Steven, is commonly shortened to Steve or Stevie. In English, the female version of the name is "Stephanie". Many surnames are derived from the first name, including Stephens, Stevens, Stephenson, and Stevenson, all of which mean "Stephen's (son)". In modern times especially the name has sometimes been given with intentionally nonstandard spelling, such as "Stevan" or "Stevon". A common variant of the name used in English is Stephan ; related names that have found some currency or significance in English include Stefan (pronounced or in English), Esteban (often pronounced), and the Shakespearean Stephano . Like all biblical names, Stephen has forms in all major world languages. Some of these include: Esteban (Spanish; Spanish pronunciation: [esˈteβan]); Estêvão (Portuguese); Esteve (Catalan); Estève (Occitan); Étienne (French); Istifanus (Arabic); István (Hungarian); Setefane (Sotho); Shtjefni (Albanian); Sītífán (Mandarin Chinese); Stefan (German, Russian, Dutch, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, and Serbian; German pronunciation: [ˈʃteːfan]); Stefán (Icelandic); Ștefan (Romanian); Štefan (Slovak and Slovenian); Stefana (Malagasy); Stefano (Italian and Swahili); Stefanos (modern Greek, modern Hebrew, and Estonian); Stefans (Latvian); Stefanus (Afrikaans); Steffan (Welsh); Stepan (Armenian); Štěpán (Czech); Stepane (Georgian); Steponas (Lithuanian); Stiofán (Irish); Sutepano (Japanese); Szczepan (Polish); and Tapani (Finnish).
In the United Kingdom, it peaked during the 1950s and 1960s as one of the top ten male first names (ranking third in 1954) but had fallen to twentieth by 1984 and had fallen out of the top one hundred by 2002. The name was ranked 201 in the United States in 2009, according to the Social Security Administration. The name reached its peak popularity in 1951 but remained very common through the mid-1990s, when popularity started to decrease in the United States.

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Masc. proper name, from Latin Stephanus, from Greek Stephanos, from stephanos "crown, wreath, garland, chaplet; crown of victory," hence "victory, prize, honor, glory," properly "that which surrounds;" also used of the ring of spectators around a fight or the wall of a town, from stephein "to encircle, crown, wreathe, tie around," from PIE root *stebh- "post, stem; place firmly on, fasten" (see step (v.)). Exclusively a monk's name in Old English, it became common after the Conquest. Saint Stephen, stoned to death, was said to be Christianity's first martyr.

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Crown, crowned.

Stepan, Stefanos, Szczepan, Stephie, Stephenie, Stephanos, Elspeth, Steponas, Steven, Stevko, Stephan, Stevan, Stephanie

Popularity	Name	Birth Year	Description
1	Stephen Hawking	1942	British theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and author
2	Stephen King	1947	American author
3	Stephen Amell	1981	Canadian actor
4	Stephen Fry	1957	English comedian, actor, writer, presenter, and activist
5	Stephen Baldwin	1966	Actor and producer from the United States
6	Stephen Harper	1959	22nd Prime Minister of Canada
7	Stephen Merchant	1974	English writer, director, radio presenter, comedian and actor
8	Stephen Lang	1952	Actor
9	Stephen Chow	1962	Hong Kong actor and film director
10	Stephen A. Smith	1967	Sports journalist
11	Stephen Moyer	1969	British actor
12	Stephen Sondheim	1930	American composer and lyricist
13	Stephen Dillane	1956	English actor
14	Stephen Root	1951	American actor and voice actor
15	Stephen Collins	1947	American actor, writer, and musician
16	Stephen Breyer	1938	Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
17	Stephen Flemmi	1935	American mobster
18	Stephen "tWitch" Boss
19	Stephen Dorff	1973	American actor
20	Stephen Stills	1945	American multi-instrumentalist and singer/songwriter
21	Stephen F. Austin	1793	American empresario
22	Stephen Gately	1976	Singer, songwriter, actor, Dancer, musician, Author
23	Stephen Mulhern	1977	British entertainer
24	Stephen Tobolowsky	1951	Actor and writer
25	Stephen Rea	1946	Irish actor
26	Stephen		Ancient Roman saint
27	Stephen Marley	1972	Jamaican American musician
28	Stephen Campbell Moore	1979	British actor
29	Stephen Gyllenhaal	1949	American film director
30	Stephen Jackson	1978	American basketball player
31	Stephen Colletti	1986	American actor
32	Stephen Hillenburg	1961	American marine biologist, cartoonist, animator, storyboard artist, director, producer, and writer
33	Stephen A. Douglas	1813	American politician
34	Stephen Bear	1990
35	Stephen Gostkowski	1984	American football player, placekicker
36	Stephen Jay Gould	1941	American evolutionary biologist
37	Stephen Mangan	1972	English actor
38	Stephen Rannazzisi	1978	American actor
39	Stephen Covey	1932	American educator, author, businessman and motivational speaker
40	Stephen Crabb	1973	British politician
41	Stephen M. Ross	1940	American businessman
42	Stephen Foster	1826	Songwriter
43	Stephen A. Schwarzman	1947	American businessman
44	Stephen Boyd	1931	American actor
45	Stephen Graham	1973	English film and television actor
46	Stephen Furst	1954	American actor and film and television director
47	Stephen Kay	1963	American actor, director and writer of film and television
48	Stephen J. Cannell	1941	American television producer, writer, novelist and occasional actor
49	Stephen McHattie	1947	Canadian actor
50	Stephen Crane	1871	American novelist, short story writer, poet, and journalist
51	Stephen Macht	1942	American actor
52	Stephen Hendry	1990	British footballer, model
53	Stephen Barlow	1954	British musician
54	Stephen Tompkinson	1965	English actor best known for his work in television drama and comedy productions such as DCI Banks, Wild at Heart, Ballykissangel, Drop the Dead Donkey, and the movie Brassed Off.
55	Stephen Chbosky	1970	American writer
56	Stephen Kinnock	1970	British diplomat
57	Stephen Wolfram	1959	British mathematician
58	Stephen Strasburg	1988	American professional baseball pitcher
59	Stephen Ireland	1986	Irish footballer
60	Stephen Frears	1941	British film director and producer
61	Stephen Schwartz	1948	American musical theatre lyricist and composer
62	Stephen McGann	1963	British actor
63	Stephen Glass	1972	American journalist
64	Stephen E. Ambrose	1936	American historian
65	Stephen Blackehart		American actor
66	Stephen Sommers	1962	American film director
67	Stephen Rider
68	Stephen I of Hungary	0969	King of Hungary
69	Stephen Decatur	1779	United States Navy officer
70	Stephen Bishop	1970	American actor
71	Stephen Murphy	1957
72	Stephen Kramer Glickman	1979	Canadian actor
73	Stephen Fung	1974	Hong Kong actor, director, producer and singer
74	Stephen Keshi	1962	Nigerian football defender and manager
75	Stephen Wiltshire	1974	Architectural artist
76	Stephen Miller	1980	Advisor to US President Donald Trump
77	Stephen Colbert		Persona of political satirist Stephen Colbert
78	Stephen Malkmus	1966	American musician
79	Stephen Paea	1988	American football player, defensive lineman
80	Stephen Pearcy	1959	American musician
81	Stephen Nichols	1951	American actor
82	Stephen Walters	1975	British actor
83	Stephen Tredre	1963	British actor-writer
84	Stephen Daldry	1960	British director
85	Stephen Warnock	1981	English footballer
86	Stephen Hunter	1946	American novelist, essayist, and Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic
87	Stephen Duffy	1960	English songwriter, vocalist
88	Stephen F. Cohen	1938	American historian
89	Stephen Yagman	1944	American disbarred lawyer
90	Stephen Carpenter	1970	American musician
91	Stephen Gardiner	1497	English bishop
92	Stephen Geoffreys	1964	Actor
93	Stephen Gaghan	1965	American writer and director
94	Stephen Poliakoff	1952	British television director and writer
95	Stephen Stucker	1947	American actor
96	Stephen Dürr	1974	German actor
97	Stephen Fleming	1973	New Zealand cricketer
98	Stephen Dixon	1974	British newsreader
99	Stephen III of Moldavia	1429	Prince of Moldavia
100	Stephen Morin	1951	American serial killer
101	Stephen Elop	1963	Chief executive officer of Nokia Corporation
102	Stephen Piscotty	1991	American baseball player
103	Stephen Devassy	1981	Indian musician
104	Stephen Russell		American actor and director
105	Stephen Wallem	1968	American actor
106	Stephen Baxter	1957	Author
107	Stephen Drew	1983	American baseball player
108	Stephen J. Townsend	1959	American soldier
109	Stephen Spender	1909	English poet and man of letters
110	Stephen Leacock	1869	Writer and economist
111	Stephen Roche	1959	Irish racing cyclist
112	Stephen K. Amos	1970	English comedian
113	Stephen Pagliuca	1955	American businessman
114	Stephen Lord	1972	British actor
115	Stephen Dunham	1964	American actor
116	Stephen Greenblatt	1943	American literary critic, theorist and scholar
117	Stephen Lewis	1937	Canadian politician
118	Stephen Maguire	1981	Snooker player
119	Stephen Girard	1750	American banker and philanthropist
120	Stephen Krashen	1941	Professor of Linguistics from the United States
121	Stephen Hunt	1981	Footballer
122	Stephen O'Halloran	1987	Irish footballer
123	Stephen Smith	1985	English boxer
124	Stephen F. Hayes	1974	American journalist
125	Stephen Morris	1992	American football player
126	Stephen K. Hayes	1949	Martial arts master, author
127	Stephen Full	1969	American actor
128	Stephen Báthory	1533	King of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
129	Stephen Constantine	1962	English football manager and former player
130	Stephen Thomas Erlewine	1973	American music journalist
131	Stephen Van Rensselaer	1764	New York landowner, businessman, militia officer, and politician
132	Stephen J. Dubner	1963	American journalist
133	Stephen Caffrey	1959	American actor
134	Stephen Adly Guirgis		American actor, writer and director
135	Stephen Zimmerman	1996	American basketball player
136	Stephen Sackur	1964	English journalist
137	Stephen Langton	1150	Archbishop of Canterbury
138	Stephen Hadley	1947	American National Security Advisor
139	Stephen Friedman	1937	American businessman
140	Stephen Perkins	1967	American musician
141	Stephen Curry	1976	Australian comedian and actor
142	Stephen Kingsley	1994	Scottish footballer
143	Stephen R. Donaldson	1947	Novelist
144	Stephen Hendrie	1995	Scottish footballer
145	Stephen Pearson	1982	Scottish footballer
146	Stephen Ward	1912	Central figure in the Profumo affair
147	Stephen Appiah	1980	Ghanaian footballer
148	Nicol Stephen, Baron Stephen	1960	British politician
149	Stephen Bywater	1981	Football (soccer) player
150	Stephen Silvagni	1967	Australian rules footballer and commentator
151	Stephen Edward Smith	1927	American businessman
152	Stephen Stanko	1968	Convicted murderer, on death row
153	Stephen Glover
154	Stephen Hung		Hong Kong businessman
155	Stephen Walt	1955	American political scientist
156	Stephen Bunting	1985	English darts player
157	Stephen Stanton	1961	American actor, writer and visual effects artist
158	Stephen Shortridge	1953	American actor
159	Stephen Timms	1955	British politician
160	Stephen Hopkins	1707	Signer of Declaration of Independence
161	Stephen Donald	1983	New Zealand rugby union player
162	Stephen Quinn	1986	Footballer
163	Stephen Talbot	1949	American journalist
164	Stephen Toulmin	1922	English philosopher
165	Stephen Milligan	1948	British politician
166	Stephen Smale	1930	American mathematician
167	Stephen Dobbie	1982	Scottish footballer
168	Stephen Lunsford	1989	American actor
169	Stephen Kendrick	1973	American film producer
170	Stephen Davis	1974	American football running back
171	Stephen Spinella	1956	Actor
172	Stephen Vogt	1984	Oakland Athletics baseball player
173	Stephen Neal	1976	Player of American football
174	Stephen Starr		American restauranteur
175	Stephen Dedalus	1882	Character in James Joyce's autobiographical novels
176	Stephen McNally	1913	Actor
177	Stephen Port	1975
178	Stephen Nolan	1973	Television presenter; radilo personality
179	Stephen Marshall	1985	American murderer
180	Stephen W. Kearny	1794	United States general
181	Stephen Moore	1937	British actor
182	Stephen Schnetzer	1948	American actor
183	Stephen Twigg	1966	British politician
184	Stephen Kunken	1971	American actor
185	Stephen C. Meyer	1958	American Intelligent design advocate
186	Stephen Thompson	1967	TV and theatre writer
187	Stephen Vincent Benét	1898	Poet, short story writer, novelist
188	Stephen O'Malley	1974	American musician
189	Stephen McGee	1985	Football player; Quarterback
190	Stephen Elliott	1918	American actor
191	Stephen Norrington	1964	British film director
192	Stephen McCole	2000	Scottish actor
193	Stephen Tulloch	1985	American football player
194	Lourdes Stephen	1976	Dominican Republic television presenter
195	Stephen Herek	1958	American film director
196	Stephen Benn, 3rd Viscount Stansgate	1951	British scientist
197	Stephen P. Murray	1962
198	Stephen Timoshenko	1878	Ukrainian & American engineer
199	Leslie Stephen	1832	British author, literary critic, and first editor of the Dictionary of National Biography
200	Stephen Guarino	1975	Actor