Stefani
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "crown" or "wreath".
Name Census estimates that about 6,517 living Americans carry the first name Stefani. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Stefani today is around 38 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Stefani births was 1990 (282 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Stefani. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Stefani with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
6.5K
~ 1 in 52,594 Americans
Peak year
1990
282 babies that year
Average age
38
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,109
Tracked since 1939
Census
Stefani in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 6,922 people with the first name Stefani, which placed it at #3,149 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
#3,149
National first-name rank
People counted
6.9K
6,922 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
64.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Stefani
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Stefani is White at 64.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (25.0%) and Black (5.0%). 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 Stefani 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 Stefani at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White64.5% · 4,465
- Hispanic or Latino25.0% · 1,730
- Black or African American5.0% · 349
- Two or more races3.2% · 222
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.9% · 129
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 27
Popularity
Stefani: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Stefani from the 1930s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 1,898 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Stefani 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 Stefani during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Stefanis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 32 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Stefani, while South Carolina, Montana, Kansas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 129 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Stefani
The name Stefani is derived from the Greek name Stephanos, which means "crown" or "garland." It has its origins in ancient Greece and was initially given to individuals who had achieved significant accomplishments or held positions of honor and distinction.
The name gained popularity during the early Christian era, as it was associated with St. Stephen, the first martyr of Christianity. The Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament describes Stephen as a man "full of grace and fortitude" who was stoned to death for his faith in 33 AD.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Stefani can be found in the writings of the 4th-century historian Eusebius of Caesarea, who mentioned a woman named Stefani who was martyred during the Diocletian persecution of Christians in the early 4th century.
In the Middle Ages, the name Stefani became popular across Europe, particularly in Italy, where it was often spelled as Stefania or Stefano for males. One notable figure from this period was Stefano Tempesta (1555-1630), an Italian painter and engraver known for his landscapes and historical scenes.
During the Renaissance, the name Stefani was associated with several prominent figures, including Stefano Guazzo (1530-1593), an Italian writer and courtier who authored the influential work "Civil Conversation," which explored the art of polite discourse and societal etiquette.
Another notable figure was Stefano della Bella (1610-1664), an Italian artist and engraver celebrated for his etchings and engravings depicting scenes of everyday life in 17th-century Europe.
In more recent history, the name Stefani has been borne by several influential individuals, such as Stefani Germanò (1856-1915), an Italian mathematician and physicist known for his contributions to the study of electromagnetism and the kinetic theory of gases.
Additionally, Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, better known as Lady Gaga (born 1986), is a world-renowned American singer, songwriter, and actress who has won numerous awards and accolades for her music and performances.
People
Stefani + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Stefani 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
Stefani: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Stefani?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 6,517 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Stefani 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 52,594 US residents.
Is Stefani a common name?
We classify Stefani as "Rare". It ranks above 97.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 7,017 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Stefani most popular?
The single biggest year for Stefani was 1990, when 282 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Stefani is about 38 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Stefani in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 6,922 people with the name Stefani, or 2.29 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,149 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 Stefani 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 Stefani?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Stefani appears almost entirely female. Of the 6,915 people counted with this name, 99.7% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Stefani?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Stefani is White at 64.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (25.0%) and Black (5.0%). 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 Stefani most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Stefani in the 2020 Census, accounting for 64.5% (4,465 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 Stefani in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Stefani a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Stefani in the SSA data are female. 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 Stefani still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Stefani 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 Stefani 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 Stefani as a first name?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.