Stephan
The German spelling of the Greek Stephanos, a word for the wreath once set on a winner's head. In Poland it stays rare: only about 260 men carry it, and most Poles have never met one.
Stephan Pronunciation
What Stephan means
Where Stephan comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Stephan grows from the Greek Stephanos, a word for a crown or a wreath. In the old games of Greece the stephanos was the ring of leaves set on a winner's head, so the name began as a mark of victory rather than of royalty. German speakers carried the spelling Stephan across centuries, and it stayed close to that first sense of a wreath.
The wreath meaning still holds. Parents who write Stephan on a form at the urząd give their son a name that means, quite literally, korona and wieniec.
The first bearer to make the name famous was Saint Stephen, remembered in Christian tradition as the first martyr. His feast falls on 26 December. In Poland the second day of Christmas is Świętego Szczepana, when the name day belongs to every Stephan and Szczepan alike. Kings took the name too. Short and level, it keeps its old meaning: a wreath.
How many people are named Stephan
1 in 82737 men in Poland is named Stephan. 258 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #1913 among male names.
Stephan as a middle name
Stephan is a first name for 258 men in Poland and a middle name for another 92, a 74/26 split. In the men's middle-name ranking it sits 750th, between Siegfried (92) and Lal (91).
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#748 Radzisław93
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#749 Siegfried92
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#750 Stephan92
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#751 Lal91
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#752 Leslie91