Steve

Where Steve comes from

Shortening of various names ultimately derived from Latin Stephanus m, from Ancient Greek Στέφανος m (Stéphanos) from στέφανος m (stéphanos, “crown, wreath”)
— Wiktionary's entry for Steve
  • 1 syllable
  • Vowel-ended
Along the way
  1. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #225 among boys — 52 babies in the first year on record.
  2. 1930
    Steve McQueen born
    American actor
  3. 1946
    Steve Biko born
    South African anti-apartheid activist
  4. 1959
    Peak, #41
    11,068 babies named Steve — more than any year before or since.
  5. 1966
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #67.
In the dictionary
  • A diminutive of the male given name Steven and Stephen; also used as a formal male given name.
  • A diminutive of the female given name Stephanie.
Namesakes
  • Steve Biko · South African anti-apartheid activist, 1946–1977
  • Steve McQueen · American actor, 1930–1980
  • Steve Ballmer · American businessman, former chief executive officer of Microsoft, born 1956
  • Steve Buscemi · American actor, born 1957
  • Steve Zahn · American actor, born 1967

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.