Steen
A Scandinavian masculine name meaning "stone" or "rock".
Name Census estimates that about 137 living Americans carry the first name Steen. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Steen today is around 47 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Steen births was 1990 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Steen. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
137
~ 1 in 2,501,856 Americans
Peak year
1990
10 babies that year
Average age
47
years old
2007 SSA rank
#14,108
Tracked since 1950
Census
Steen in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 318 people with the first name Steen, which placed it at #28,322 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#28,322
National first-name rank
People counted
318
318 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
88.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Steen
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Steen is White at 88.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.5%) and Hispanic (3.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Steen described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Steen at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White88.7% · 282
- Two or more races3.5% · 11
- Hispanic or Latino3.1% · 10
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.8% · 9
- Black or African American1.6% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 1
Popularity
Steen: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Steen from the 1950s through to the 2000s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 42 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Steen by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Steen during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Steen
The name Steen has its origins in the Old English language, tracing back to the Anglo-Saxon period in Britain. It is derived from the Old English word "stan," which means "stone" or "rock." This name was likely given to individuals who lived near a prominent rock formation or a stone dwelling.
Steen was a common name among the Anglo-Saxons, and it is mentioned in several ancient texts and manuscripts from that era. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive land survey commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Steen. One of the earliest was Steen Bille (1528-1601), a Danish nobleman and Admiral who played a crucial role in the Northern Seven Years' War against Sweden.
Another prominent figure was Steen Steensen Blicher (1782-1848), a Danish author, and poet widely regarded as one of the founders of the Danish literary tradition. His works, such as "The Outlaw" and "The Parson of Veilbye," vividly portrayed the lives of ordinary people in rural Denmark.
In the 20th century, Steen Eiler Rasmussen (1898-1990) was a renowned Danish architect and urban planner. He is best known for his influential book "Experiencing Architecture," which explored the relationship between architecture and human experience.
Steen Andersen Bille (1924-2000) was a Danish film director and screenwriter who gained international recognition for his work in the 1960s and 1970s. His films, such as "You Are Not Alone" and "Twilight of the Gods," explored themes of existentialism and human isolation.
Steen Willadsen (1933-2003) was a British biologist and reproductive scientist who made significant contributions to the field of embryo transfer and cloning. He was part of the team that produced the first cloned mammal, Dolly the Sheep, in 1996.
These are just a few examples of the many notable individuals who have carried the name Steen throughout history, highlighting its enduring presence across various cultures and disciplines.
People
Steen + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Steen as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with S
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Steen: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Steen?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 137 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Steen going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 2,501,856 US residents.
Is Steen a common name?
We classify Steen as "Very Rare". It ranks above 69% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 151 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Steen most popular?
The single biggest year for Steen was 1990, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Steen is about 47 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Steen in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 318 people with the name Steen, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #28,322 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Steen in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Steen?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Steen leans strongly male. 313 people counted with this name were male (94.6%), compared with 18 female bearers (5.4%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Steen?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Steen is White at 88.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.5%) and Hispanic (3.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Steen most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Steen in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.7% (282 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Steen in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Steen a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Steen in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Steen still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Steen in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Steen can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have the name Steen?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Steen, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.