Stephen
Stephen is ranked 377th among boys in 2024 (864 births). Its best rank was 19th, in 1949–1951.
- Rank in 2024
- #377down 14 from 2023
- Births in 2024
- 8640.05% of boys
- Peak year
- 195223,054 births
- Best rank
- #19first in 1949
- Since 1880
- 866,834people given the name
The story in the numbers
863,904 boys have been named Stephen in the United States since 1880, according to Social Security records. The busiest single year was 1952, with 23,054 births — 1.2% of all boys recorded that year.
The name has all but left use: 864 births in 2024, against 23,054 at the peak.
Half of everyone given the name was born by 1964, and the 1950s alone account for 24%. It has spent 145 of 145 years in the top 1,000, 95 of them in the top 100.
It is overwhelmingly a boy’s name: 2,930 girls have also been given it, 0.34% of the total.
Rank among boys, year by year
By decade
| Decade | boys named Stephen | |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 1,684 | |
| 1890s | 1,733 | |
| 1900s | 2,247 | |
| 1910s | 13,503 | |
| 1920s | 15,557 | |
| 1930s | 18,272 | |
| 1940s | 106,810 | |
| 1950s | 207,276 | |
| 1960s | 152,231 | |
| 1970s | 107,812 | |
| 1980s | 113,635 | |
| 1990s | 75,164 | |
| 2000s | 28,901 | |
| 2010s | 14,418 | |
| 2020s | 4,661 |
In 1952, its biggest year
Stephen was the 21st most given boy’s name that year. The top five boys’ names of 1952 were James, Robert, John, Michael and David. See all of 1952.
Names that rose and fell with Stephen
Same sex, most similar popularity curve over 145 years, in five-year steps — the shape of the line, not the size.
- Michelpeak 1957
- Davidpeak 1955
- Bradfordpeak 1953
- Michealpeak 1957
- Phillippeak 1960
- Michaelpeak 1957
- Randellpeak 1960
- Terrencepeak 1955
What this page does not tell you. The Social Security data records how many babies were given a name, not what the name means or where it comes from — so neither do we. Counts cover people with a Social Security number; names given to fewer than five babies in a year are withheld. More on the data.