Fun Facts About the Name Stepan
- 261 babies named Stepan: U.S. records list 261 babies given the name Stepan from 1880 through 2025.
What Does the Name Stepan Mean?
Stepan means "crown" or "wreath." It is the East Slavic form of the Greek name Stephanos (Στέφανος), which comes from the noun stephanos, a garland or circlet worn as a mark of honor or awarded as a prize, and from the related verb stephein, "to encircle" or "to crown." The Greek word covered more than a royal crown: it also named the wreath given to victors and, in Christian usage, the crown of martyrdom. That Christian association is a customary interpretation layered onto the name, not part of the word's original sense.
Russian and Ukrainian Степан - normally written Stepan in Latin letters - is one inherited form of this Greek name, not a separate creation. The same source produced Stefan and Štefan elsewhere in Slavic Europe, Stephen in English, Esteban in Spanish, Étienne in French, and Stefano in Italian.
Stepan Name History & Origins
Greek Stephanos was a common name in the Hellenistic and Roman periods. Its best-known early bearer is Saint Stephen, described in the Acts of the Apostles as the first Christian martyr, stoned in Jerusalem. Devotion to him helped the name spread through the Greek-speaking church, and it was widely used in the Byzantine Empire.
When the East Slavs converted to Christianity, beginning in the late tenth century, Greek names entered their language by way of Old Church Slavonic. The name appears there with an f, as Stefanŭ (Стефанъ). The everyday East Slavic form Stepan instead has p; the usual explanation is that Slavic speech substituted p for the unfamiliar foreign sound f, the same shift that produced Russian Osip from Greek Ioseph. Russian kept both forms - the churchly or bookish Stefan and the popular Stepan - while Ukrainian uses Степан and Belarusian uses Сцяпан (Stsyapan).
In Russia, Stepan was long a common name across social classes. It formed the patronymics Степанович (Stepanovich) and Степановна (Stepanovna) and the surname Степанов (Stepanov), and it yielded short forms such as Стёпа (Styopa) and Стёпка (Styopka). The Orthodox calendar's commemorations of saints named Stephen supported the name's continued use.
Among historical bearers, Stepan Razin led the Cossack uprising of 1670 - 1671 and later became a figure in Russian folk song. Stepan Makarov (1849 - 1904) was a Russian admiral and oceanographer. In literature, Stepan Arkadyevich Oblonsky is a central character in Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, and Stepan Trofimovich Verkhovensky appears in Dostoevsky's Demons.
How Popular is the Name Stepan?
Stepan has historically been an exceptionally rare given name in the United States, remaining well outside the national mainstream. It saw its highest recorded annual births in 2019. Its best rank was #5,163 in 1988.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #10,536 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2023 | #10,653 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2022 | #12,119 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2020 | #11,829 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2019 | #6,059 | 15 | 0.0008% |
| 2018 | #8,728 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 2017 | #8,060 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 2016 | #6,672 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 2015 | #8,642 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 2014 | #6,262 | 14 | 0.0007% |
| 2013 | #10,577 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2012 | #8,056 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 2011 | #9,478 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 2010 | #13,988 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2009 | #9,734 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 2008 | #7,630 | 11 | 0.0005% |
| 2007 | #10,744 | 7 | 0.0003% |
| 2006 | #13,748 | 5 | 0.0002% |
| 2005 | #7,035 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 2002 | #10,488 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2001 | #12,076 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2000 | #10,185 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1999 | #9,745 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1997 | #7,189 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1996 | #8,865 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1995 | #10,122 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1994 | #8,663 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1993 | #6,733 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1992 | #9,634 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1991 | #9,444 | 5 | 0.0002% |
| 1988 | #5,163 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 1987 | #7,993 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1986 | #5,269 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1981 | #7,147 | 5 | 0.0003% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
