Steffi
A feminine diminutive of Stephanie, derived from the Greek name Stephanos meaning "crown".
Name Census estimates that about 479 living Americans carry the first name Steffi. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Steffi today is around 38 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Steffi births was 1989 (36 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Steffi. 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 Steffi with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
479
~ 1 in 715,562 Americans
Peak year
1989
36 babies that year
Average age
38
years old
2019 SSA rank
#17,654
Tracked since 1942
Census
Steffi in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 866 people with the first name Steffi, which placed it at #13,813 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
#13,813
National first-name rank
People counted
866
866 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
44.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Steffi
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Steffi is White at 44.1%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (28.8%) and Hispanic (15.5%). 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 Steffi 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 Steffi at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White44.1% · 382
- Asian and Pacific Islander28.8% · 249
- Hispanic or Latino15.5% · 134
- Black or African American8.4% · 73
- Two or more races2.3% · 20
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 8
Popularity
Steffi: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Steffi 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 184 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
Steffi 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 Steffi during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Steffis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. California, New York, Florida recorded the most babies named Steffi, while Texas, Florida, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 26 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Steffi
The name Steffi is a diminutive form of the German name Stefanie, which is derived from the Greek name Stephanos, meaning "crown" or "wreath". The name has its origins in Ancient Greece, where it was commonly used as a personal name.
In the Middle Ages, the name Steffi became popular in various parts of Europe, particularly in German-speaking regions. It was often associated with Christianity, as the name was borne by several early Christian saints and martyrs, including Saint Stephen, the first Christian martyr.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Steffi can be found in German historical records from the 13th century. A notable figure bearing this name was Steffi of Württemberg (1207-1241), a German noblewoman and the daughter of Duke Henry I of Württemberg.
During the Renaissance period, the name Steffi gained further popularity across Europe. In Italy, it was often spelled as Stefania or Stefano, reflecting the influence of the Italian language. One famous bearer of the name was Stefania Velletrani (1461-1503), an Italian noblewoman and patron of the arts.
In the 17th century, the name Steffi was particularly popular in Germany and Austria. A notable figure from this era was Steffi Klencke (1676-1735), a German poet and writer who was renowned for her poetic works.
In the 19th century, the name Steffi continued to be widely used in German-speaking regions, as well as in parts of Eastern Europe. One notable bearer of the name was Steffi Arco (1818-1892), an Austrian painter and illustrator who was known for her landscape paintings and illustrations of folk tales.
In the 20th century, the name Steffi gained international recognition thanks to the success of German tennis player Steffi Graf (born 1969), who was a former world No. 1 and won 22 Grand Slam singles titles, making her one of the most successful tennis players in history.
Other notable figures with the name Steffi include Steffi Nerius (born 1972), a German swimmer and Olympic medalist, and Steffi Jones (born 1972), a German former soccer player and coach who played for the German national team and won numerous titles.
People
Steffi + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Steffi 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
Steffi: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Steffi?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 479 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Steffi 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 715,562 US residents.
Is Steffi a common name?
We classify Steffi as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 532 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Steffi most popular?
The single biggest year for Steffi was 1989, when 36 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Steffi 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 Steffi in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 866 people with the name Steffi, or 0.29 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,813 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 Steffi 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 Steffi?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Steffi appears almost entirely female. Of the 865 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Steffi?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Steffi is White at 44.1%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (28.8%) and Hispanic (15.5%). 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 Steffi most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Steffi in the 2020 Census, accounting for 44.1% (382 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 Steffi in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Steffi a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Steffi 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 Steffi still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Steffi 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 Steffi 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 Steffi?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Steffi, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.