Steffani
Feminine form of Stephanos, meaning "crown" or "garland" in Greek.
Name Census estimates that about 920 living Americans carry the first name Steffani. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Steffani today is around 41 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Steffani births was 1990 (64 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Steffani. 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 Steffani with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
920
~ 1 in 372,559 Americans
Peak year
1990
64 babies that year
Average age
41
years old
2015 SSA rank
#16,192
Tracked since 1944
Census
Steffani in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,028 people with the first name Steffani, which placed it at #12,197 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
#12,197
National first-name rank
People counted
1.0K
1,028 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
70.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Steffani
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Steffani is White at 70.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (16.7%) and Two or More Races (5.2%). 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 Steffani 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 Steffani at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White70.7% · 727
- Hispanic or Latino16.7% · 172
- Two or more races5.2% · 53
- Black or African American5.1% · 52
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.6% · 16
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 8
Popularity
Steffani: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Steffani from the 1940s through to the 2010s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 297 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
Steffani 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 Steffani during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Steffanis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. California, Texas, Ohio recorded the most babies named Steffani, while Missouri, Ohio, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 34 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Steffani
The name Steffani has its roots in the Latin language and is derived from the word "Stephanus," which means "crown" or "wreath." It is a feminine form of the masculine name Stephen or Steven. The name first appeared in ancient Roman times and was initially associated with early Christian martyrs.
In the 4th century AD, the name Steffani gained prominence with the veneration of Saint Stephanos, one of the first deacons of the Christian church and a martyr for his faith. His story is recounted in the Acts of the Apostles, where he was stoned to death for preaching the word of God. This association with a revered saint contributed to the widespread use of the name among early Christian communities.
The name Steffani has been spelled in various ways throughout history, including Stefania, Stefanie, and Stephanie. It has been popularized in different regions, with notable variations in spelling and pronunciation. In Italy, the name is commonly spelled Stefania, while in Germany, it is often written as Stefanie.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Steffani can be found in the writings of the 9th-century Italian scholar and historian Paul the Deacon, who mentioned a woman named Steffani in his work "Historia Langobardorum" (History of the Lombards).
Throughout history, several notable women have borne the name Steffani. One of the most famous was Steffani Germanica (c. 975-1002), the second wife of the Holy Roman Emperor Otto III. Another prominent figure was Steffani of Thuringia (c. 1170-1248), a Benedictine abbess and mystic known for her visions and spiritual writings.
In the realm of arts and literature, Steffani Arrigo (1654-1740) was an Italian composer and diplomat who made significant contributions to the development of opera. Steffani Joanne (1880-1936), an American writer and feminist, was also notable for her advocacy of women's rights and her literary works.
The name Steffani has also been associated with figures in various fields, such as Steffani Quintini (1801-1857), an Italian botanist and naturalist, and Steffani Zweig (1932-2014), a German-American author and artist.
These examples demonstrate the rich history and cultural significance of the name Steffani, which has been borne by individuals from diverse backgrounds and eras, each leaving their mark on the world in their own unique way.
People
Steffani + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Steffani 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
Steffani: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Steffani?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 920 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Steffani 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 372,559 US residents.
Is Steffani a common name?
We classify Steffani as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 997 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Steffani most popular?
The single biggest year for Steffani was 1990, when 64 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Steffani is about 41 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Steffani in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,028 people with the name Steffani, or 0.34 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,197 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 Steffani 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 Steffani?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Steffani appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,019 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Steffani?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Steffani is White at 70.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (16.7%) and Two or More Races (5.2%). 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 Steffani most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Steffani in the 2020 Census, accounting for 70.7% (727 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 Steffani in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Steffani a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Steffani 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 Steffani still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Steffani 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 Steffani 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 Steffani?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.