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Boy's name · #383 in the US (2025) · Timeless
Few names move less than Stephen — on the books since 1880, #383 in 2025, and dependable in between. Roughly 865,000 boys have carried the name since. In all that time it has never once missed a year of the national records.
See where Stephen is more common.
Appears in 2020-2025 birth records of 40 states. See the full state-by-state map on this page.
See how Stephen ranks in other countries and regions.
#232 in Ireland (2025) · #253 in N. Ireland (2025) · #400 in Scotland (2025) · #629 in Canada (2025) · #716 in England & Wales (2025) · #1,965 in Ecuador (2025) · #3,010 in France (2025) · #2,159 in Sweden (2024) · #4,838 in Italy (2023) · #1,666 in Austria (2021) · #341 in New Zealand (2020) · #275 in Puerto Rico (2018) and 5 more.
Among 7,102 notable people named Stephen:
Scientists & scholars appear 1.47× more often than among typical names — e.g. Stephen Hawking, English theoretical physicist (1942–2018).
Together with its spelling variant Steven (#271), Stephen would rank around #173 with about 2,100 births last year — the newborns split about 60/40 between Steven and Stephen.
About 120 boys a year are given Steve as their full name.
Similar names: Phillip · Steven · Johnny · Stephan · Jimmy · Timothy
Browse more boy names — popularity, trends and eras for 5,700+ American names, free.