Stephen

//ˈstiːvən// name

name ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    The first Christian martyr.

    "And Steuen full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people."

  2. 2
    A male given name from Ancient Greek.

    "I, for my part, ask any candid reader if it was not bad enough to be called Broadfoot, without having it aggravated into Stephen Broadfoot? I feel confident I will here get a tear of sympathy from all unhappy Andrews and Peters, and Aarons and Samuels, with a smile of disdainful compassion from thrice-happy Franks and Charleys and Bills."

  3. 3
    A female given name.

    "Even in her fourteenth year Miss Stephen Norman gave promise of striking beauty; beauty of a rarely composite character."

  4. 4
    A surname originating as a patronymic.
  5. 5
    A minor city in Marshall County, Minnesota, United States, named after George Stephen.

Example

More examples

"One October morning in 1987, Stephen Hawking sat before his computer."

Etymology

From Latin Stephanus, from Ancient Greek Στέφανος (Stéphanos), from στέφανος (stéphanos, “crown, wreath”), from στέφω (stéphō, “to put round, to surround”). From *stegʷʰ- (“to enlace”) + -νος (-nos, suffix forming an adjective or noun) from Proto-Indo-European *-nós (suffix forming a verbal adjective from a verb stem).

Related phrases

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.