Stepan (given name)

Saint Stephen (detail) by Giacomo Cavedone. Saint Stephen was the first martyred saint
Pronunciation	/ˈstiːvən/
Gender	Male
Word/name	Greek
Meaning	Wreath, crown, honour, reward, royalty
Nickname(s)	Steve,
Derived	Στέφανος (Stéfanos)
Related names	Steve, Steven, Stevie, Stefan, Stefano, Stephan, , Fen, Steph, Stephanie, , Stanley, Steffen

Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen (Greek Στέφανος Stéphanos), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; he is widely regarded as the first martyr (or "protomartyr") of the Christian Church. The name "Stephen" (and its more common variant "Steven") is derived from Greek Στέφανος (Stéphanos), a first name from the Greek word στέφανος (stéphanos), meaning "wreath, crown" and by extension "reward, honor", from the verb στέφειν (stéphein), "to encircle, to wreathe". In Ancient Greece, crowning wreaths (such as laurel wreaths) were given to the winners of contests. Originally, as the verb suggests, the noun had a more general meaning of any "circle"—including a circle of people, a circling wall around a city, and, in its earliest recorded use, the circle of a fight, which is found in the Iliad of Homer.

The name, in both the forms Stephen and Steven, is commonly shortened to Steve or Stevie. In English, the female version of the name is "Stephanie". Many surnames are derived from the first name, including Stephens, Stevens, Stephenson, and Stevenson, all of which mean "Stephen's (son)". In modern times especially the name has sometimes been given with intentionally nonstandard spelling, such as "Stevan" or "Stevon". A common variant of the name used in English is Stephan /ˈstɛfən/; related names that have found some currency or significance in English include Stefan (pronounced /ˈstɛfən/ or /stəˈfɑːn/ in English), Esteban (often pronounced /ˈɛstɪˌbɑːn/), and the Shakespearean Stephano /ˈstɛfənoʊ/. Like all biblical names, Stephen has forms in all major world languages. Some of these include: Esteban (Spanish; Spanish pronunciation: [esˈteβan]); Estêvão (Portuguese); Esteve (Catalan); Estève (Occitan); Étienne (French); Istifanus (Arabic); István (Hungarian); Setefane (Sotho); Shtjefni (Albanian); Sītífán (Mandarin Chinese); Stefan (German, Russian, Dutch, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, and Serbian; German pronunciation: [ˈʃteːfan]); Stefán (Icelandic); Ștefan (Romanian); Štefan (Slovak and Slovenian); Stefana (Malagasy); Stefano (Italian and Swahili); Stefanos (modern Greek, modern Hebrew, and Estonian); Stefans (Latvian); Stefanus (Afrikaans); Steffan (Welsh); Stepan (Armenian, Ukrainian); Štěpán (Czech); Stepane (Georgian); Steponas (Lithuanian); Stiofán (Irish); Sutepano (Japanese); Szczepan (Polish); and Tapani (Finnish).