Stena
Swedish feminine given name derived from Old Norse meaning "stone".
Name Census estimates that about 0 living Americans carry the first name Stena. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Stena today is around 0 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Stena births was 1891 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Stena. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Stena. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
0
~ - Americans
Peak year
1891
5 babies that year
Average age
-
1916 SSA rank
#5,065
Tracked since 1891
Popularity
Stena: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Stena from the 1890s through to the 1910s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 5 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Stena 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 Stena 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 Stena
The name Stena has its origins in ancient Greece, derived from the Greek word "stenos," which means "narrow" or "constricted." This name was likely given to individuals who lived in or near narrow valleys, gorges, or other confined geographical locations.
During the classical period of ancient Greece, the name Stena was not particularly common, but it did appear in some historical records and literary works. One notable mention is in Plutarch's "Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans," where he refers to a certain Stena, a Greek mercenary soldier who fought for the Persians during the Greco-Persian Wars in the 5th century BCE.
As the Greek language spread throughout the Mediterranean region and beyond, the name Stena also traveled with it. In the Byzantine Empire, which lasted from the 4th to the 15th centuries CE, there are records of several individuals bearing the name Stena, although most of them were minor figures in history.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Stena is found in the writings of the 6th-century Byzantine historian Procopius of Caesarea, who mentions a woman named Stena who was a member of the imperial court in Constantinople.
Throughout the Middle Ages and the Renaissance period, the name Stena remained relatively obscure, but it did appear occasionally in various parts of Europe, especially in areas with strong Greek cultural influences, such as Italy and the Balkans.
One notable bearer of the name Stena was Stena Simonetta (1453-1476), an Italian Renaissance noblewoman and the mistress of Giuliano de' Medici. She was renowned for her beauty and was immortalized in several works of art, including Sandro Botticelli's famous painting "The Birth of Venus."
Another historically significant figure with the name Stena was Stena Cernojevic (1457-1528), a Serbian princess and the wife of Ivan Crnojevic, the last ruler of the medieval Serbian state of Zeta.
In the 19th century, the name Stena gained some popularity in Russia, possibly due to the influence of Greek culture and the Orthodox Christian faith. One notable Russian bearer of the name was Stena Stroganova (1838-1915), a member of the wealthy and influential Stroganov family.
While the name Stena has never been particularly common, it has persisted throughout history, carrying with it echoes of its ancient Greek origins and the stories of the individuals who have borne this unique moniker.
People
Stena + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Stena 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
Stena: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Stena?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 0 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Stena 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 - US residents.
Is Stena a common name?
We classify Stena as "Very Rare". It ranks above 2.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 10 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Stena most popular?
The single biggest year for Stena was 1891, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Stena is about 0 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Stena in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Stena a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Stena 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 Stena still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Stena 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 Stena 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people share the name Stena?
Want to know how many Americans are named Stena? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.