Stefan
An old name on the way back up: more boys carry it now than a generation ago, and it sits comfortably inside the country's most-used names. It comes from the Greek stephanos, the wreath of leaves once set on a winner's head, a crown you had to earn.
Stefan Pronunciation
Stefan is pronounced STE-fahn (/ˈstɛfan/).
What Stefan means
Where Stefan comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Stefan comes from the Greek stephanos, meaning a crown or a wreath, the ring of leaves once set on a victor's head. In Polish the short meaning keeps both senses, wieniec and korona. First it named a real object.
The name traveled west with Saint Stephen, the first Christian martyr, whose Greek name a crowd already read as "the crowned one." From that root grew the Italian Stefano, the Spanish Esteban, and the Russian Stepan. Poland gave the crown a literal turn in Stefan Batory, elected king in 1576, a Stefan who wore the thing the name describes.
On a school register the name sits plainly among the boys. It opens toward the feminine in Stefania and the older Stefaniya, and it shortens, at home, to Stefa. Underneath every form is a wreath of leaves, the korona a runner once earned.
How many people are named Stefan
1 in 397 men in Poland is named Stefan. 53,741 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #181 among male names.
Stefan's popularity over time
436 boys were given the name in 2025, ranking #121 among newborns. It has been climbing since 2002.
Where Stefan is most popular
Stefan is most popular in Masovian, 89% above the national average (1,019 boys born 2019–2025), followed by Pomeranian (+17%) and Greater Poland (+14%). It is least common in Silesian and Opole, 50% and 43% below average respectively.
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Masovian1,019 boys born+89%
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Pomeranian263 boys born+17%
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Greater Poland372 boys born+14%
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Podlaskie106 boys born+6%
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Lower Silesian219 boys born−8%
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Lublin140 boys born−10%
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Lesser Poland297 boys born−14%
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Łódź157 boys born−19%
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Warmian-Masurian83 boys born−24%
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian118 boys born−29%
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Lubusz51 boys born−33%
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Subcarpathian118 boys born−36%
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West Pomeranian81 boys born−37%
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Świętokrzyskie52 boys born−38%
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Opole40 boys born−43%
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Silesian173 boys born−50%
Stefan as a middle name
Stefan is a first name for 53,741 men in Poland and a middle name for another 70,831, a 43/57 split — almost evenly. In the men's middle-name ranking it sits 39th, between Sebastian (84,994) and Kamil (70,203).
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37
87,248Roman
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38
84,994Sebastian
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3970,831Stefan
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40
70,203Kamil
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41
70,058Artur
When Stefan celebrates name day
Stefan appears 4 times in the Polish name day calendar. The main date is 8 March.