boys' name ★ peaked 1956

Steven

Meaning crown, wreath Gender Boy Rank 2025 #271 Trend ↓ Falling 28%

Inherited from Middle English Stevene, Steven, from Anglo-Norman Estievne, Estievene, from Latin Stephanus, from Ancient Greek Στέφανος (Stéphanos), from στέφανος…

Rank 2025
#271
among boys · ↓3 vs 2024
Babies in 2025
1,261
named Steven · -2% vs 2024
How common
1 in 1,355
boys born in 2025
Peak year
1956
38,491 babies
All-time total
1,297,590
#21 all-time among boys
First recorded
1880
in Social Security records

Steven popularity over time

1,297,590 babies have been named Steven since 1880, according to official Social Security records. Switch measure to see births per year or the yearly rank.

Measure
Births per 1,000 babies of that sex, comparable across eras
510152018801900192019401960198020002020BoysGirls
BoysGirls

By decade. Change compares yearly averages, so the current partial decade is on equal footing. Best rank is the name's best yearly rank within the decade.

Decade Girls Boys Total Per year Change Best rank
1880s – 177 177 18 – #386
1890s – 186 186 19 +5% #391
1900s – 338 338 34 +82% #314
1910s – 2,531 2,531 253 +649% #258
1920s – 3,639 3,639 364 +44% #269
1930s – 4,834 4,834 483 +33% #144
1940s 147 81,204 81,351 8,135 +1583% #20
1950s 611 333,666 334,277 33,428 +311% #10
1960s 957 290,607 291,564 29,156 -13% #10
1970s 1,091 188,078 189,169 18,917 -35% #15
1980s 1,168 177,454 178,622 17,862 -6% #22
1990s 357 121,110 121,467 12,147 -32% #25
2000s 125 53,909 54,034 5,403 -56% #54
2010s 10 26,897 26,907 2,691 -50% #112
2020s (to 2025) – 8,494 8,494 1,416 -47% #222

Where Steven is heading

A five-year projection from the recent trend in births per 1,000 boys (damped so it flattens over time), converted to babies at today's birth totals. The implied rank places that projection in the 2025 field. A projection, not a promise: real trends bend.

Year Projected babies Per 1,000 boys Implied rank
2026 1,192 0.70 #284
2027 1,137 0.67 #298
2028 1,092 0.64 #312
2029 1,055 0.62 #324
2030 1,024 0.60 #332

Where Steven is most popular

Boys named Steven per 1,000 boys born in each state, 2021–2025. National average: 0.789 per 1,000. Strongest in Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

Vs national average
well below below near national above well above no data

All 50 states and DC, sorted by rate. Counts are boys named Steven born 2021–2025; the per-1,000 rate makes states of different sizes comparable, and the last column shows each state against the national average.

State Boys 2021–2025 Per 1,000 vs national
Maryland 163 1.37 +73%
New Jersey 267 1.33 +68%
Pennsylvania 352 1.33 +68%
New Hampshire 28 1.26 +60%
Massachusetts 159 1.16 +47%
Arkansas 72 1.14 +44%
Mississippi 64 1.13 +43%
Alabama 120 1.10 +39%
New Mexico 36 1.09 +39%
Tennessee 192 1.06 +35%
New York 455 1.05 +33%
Kentucky 102 1.02 +29%
Indiana 159 0.992 +26%
Louisiana 101 0.987 +25%
Virginia 184 0.970 +23%
Ohio 247 0.932 +18%
Connecticut 63 0.931 +18%
Delaware 14 0.923 +17%
West Virginia 30 0.919 +16%
Nevada 52 0.912 +16%
Michigan 186 0.908 +15%
California 828 0.906 +15%
Georgia 229 0.904 +15%
Florida 418 0.883 +12%
Missouri 122 0.880 +12%
Oklahoma 76 0.859 +9%
Utah 82 0.859 +9%
Arizona 140 0.856 +8%
Kansas 56 0.816 ≈ national
North Carolina 206 0.807 ≈ national
South Carolina 82 0.794 ≈ national
Oregon 59 0.777 ≈ national
Texas 669 0.759 ≈ national
Illinois 186 0.728 -8%
Wisconsin 83 0.701 -11%
Washington 112 0.685 -13%
District of Columbia 10 0.677 -14%
Minnesota 83 0.677 -14%
Nebraska 28 0.644 -18%
Colorado 83 0.643 -18%
Alaska 7 0.588 -25%
Idaho 24 0.586 -26%
Iowa 39 0.566 -28%
Rhode Island 9 0.552 -30%
South Dakota 7 0.376 -52%
Hawaii – – –
Maine – – –
Montana – – –
North Dakota – – –
Vermont – – –
Wyoming – – –

State counts come from the Social Security Administration's state files, which omit any state-year with fewer than five babies of a name, so small states can undercount slightly.

The story of Steven

Steven is moderately common for boys in the United States, ranked #271 in 2025 with 1,261 babies given the name. It is currently declining compared with a decade ago.

Since 1880, 1,297,590 American babies have been named Steven. Its peak came in 1956, when 38,491 newborns received the name, the signature sound of the 1950s.

The chart above shows the full history: the popularity view (births per 1,000 babies) is the honest comparison across generations, since total US births have changed enormously since 1880. Switch to the rank view to see where Steven stood among all boys' names in any year, or use the compare tool to plot it against other names.

How old are people named Steven?

The median living Steven is about 55 years old; half are between 39 and 66. An estimated 1.1 million people named Steven are alive in the United States today.

median 55 020406080100

Estimated from births per year and Social Security period life tables; an approximation of the living age distribution, by age in years.

Steven year by year

Every year since 2001, and five-year steps back to 1880. Rank is within each sex.

Year Girls Girls rank Boys Boys rank
2025 – – 1,261 #271
2024 – – 1,291 #268
2023 – – 1,396 #251
2022 – – 1,351 #256
2021 – – 1,514 #235
2020 – – 1,681 #222
2019 – – 1,981 #199
2018 – – 2,045 #198
2017 – – 2,168 #182
2016 5 #18,552 2,401 #167
2015 – – 2,715 #153
2014 – – 2,809 #144
2013 5 #18,939 2,889 #134
2012 – – 3,241 #112
2011 – – 3,212 #124
2010 – – 3,436 #116
2009 9 #12,327 3,833 #106
2008 10 #11,498 4,228 #104
2007 9 #12,556 4,556 #97
2006 9 #12,304 4,824 #90
2005 9 #11,727 5,079 #83
2004 25 #5,196 5,357 #78
2003 8 #12,266 5,860 #70
2002 15 #7,395 6,222 #68
2001 14 #7,670 6,589 #63
2000 17 #6,446 7,361 #54
1995 20 #5,005 10,661 #37
1990 69 #1,987 18,764 #25
1985 145 #1,040 18,726 #24
1980 111 #1,196 15,916 #28
1975 106 #1,110 17,055 #18
1970 127 #988 26,793 #15
1965 90 #1,121 27,977 #14
1960 96 #1,101 33,878 #10
1955 44 #1,554 37,847 #10
1950 40 #1,470 23,250 #16
1945 12 #2,726 5,974 #43
1940 – – 1,569 #119
1935 – – 409 #270
1930 – – 311 #315
1925 – – 398 #288
1920 – – 418 #270
1915 – – 298 #289
1910 – – 66 #303
1905 – – 25 #448
1900 – – 42 #335
1895 – – 16 #526
1890 – – 20 #413
1885 – – 21 #397
1880 – – 17 #441

Famous people named Steven

The most globally famous bearers of the name, ranked by fame across Wikipedia editions (Pantheon project, MIT).

  1. 1 Steven Spielberg Steven Spielberg American filmmaker (born 1946) Contemporary
  2. 2 Steven Seagal Steven Seagal American actor, martial artist, and filmmaker (born 1952) Contemporary
  3. 3 Steven Tyler Steven Tyler American singer and songwriter (born 1948) Contemporary
  4. 4 Steven Yeun Steven Yeun South Korean and American actor (born 1983) Contemporary
  5. 5 Steven Gerrard Steven Gerrard English football manager (born 1980) Contemporary
  6. 6 Steven Van Zandt Steven Van Zandt American musician and actor (born 1950) Contemporary
  7. 7 Steven Soderbergh Steven Soderbergh American filmmaker (born 1963) Contemporary
  8. 8 Steven Bauer Steven Bauer American actor (born 1956) Contemporary
  9. 9 Steven Knight Steven Knight English screenwriter and film director b. 1959 · Contemporary
  10. 10 Steven Ogg Steven Ogg Canadian actor (born 1973) Contemporary
  11. 11 Steven Pinker Steven Pinker Canadian-American psycholinguist (born 1954) Contemporary
  12. 12 Steven Adler Steven Adler American drummer (born 1965) Contemporary
  13. 13 Steven Wilson Steven Wilson English musician (born 1967) Contemporary
  14. 14 Steven Williams American actor (born 1949) Contemporary
  15. 15 Steven Berkoff English actor (born 1937) Contemporary
  16. 16 Steven Moffat Steven Moffat Scottish television writer and producer (born 1961) Contemporary
  17. 17 Steven Hill Steven Hill American actor (1922–2016) Contemporary
  18. 18 Steven Mnuchin Steven Mnuchin American banker and film producer (born 1962) Contemporary
  19. 19 Steven Culp American film and television actor (born 1955) Contemporary
  20. 20 Steven Erikson Steven Erikson Canadian fantasy author b. 1959 · Contemporary

Portraits from Wikipedia (Wikimedia Commons).

Frequently asked questions

Quick answers about Steven, drawn from the same Social Security data as the charts above.

How old is the average Steven?

The median living Steven is about 55 years old. Half of all living Stevens are between 39 and 66 years old.

How many people named Steven are alive today?

An estimated 1.1 million people named Steven are alive in the United States, based on 1,297,590 recorded births and Social Security life tables.

What does the name Steven mean?

Inherited from Middle English Stevene, Steven, from Anglo-Norman Estievne, Estievene, from Latin Stephanus, from Ancient Greek Στέφανος (Stéphanos), from στέφανος (stéphanos, “crown, wreath”), from στέφω (stéphō, “to put round,…

How popular is the name Steven in 2025?

Steven ranked #271 among boys' names in the United States in 2025, with 1,261 babies given the name, according to Social Security Administration data.

How many people are named Steven?

1,297,590 babies have been named Steven in the United States since 1880, based on Social Security card applications.

When was the name Steven most popular?

Steven peaked in 1956, when 38,491 newborns received the name.

Is Steven a boy or girl name?

Steven is overwhelmingly a boy's name: 100% of babies with the name.

Is the name Steven rising or falling?

Steven is declining, less popular now than a decade ago.

Will Steven become more popular?

Steven is trending downward. If the recent trend holds, we project roughly 1,024 boys named Steven in 2030, which would rank around #332. Forecasts assume the current trend continues and become less certain further out.

Who are famous people named Steven?

Well-known people named Steven include Steven Spielberg (film director), Steven Seagal (actor), Steven Tyler (singer).

Names like Steven

Names that sound and feel close to Steven: shared sounds, similar era, similar popularity. Each links to its full history.

Compare Steven with similar names → More names starting with S →