Stephen (surname)

Stephen is a surname of English, Scottish, and German origin. It is a reasonably common surname. The German variant is thought to have originated from the German-speaking world as (Von) Stephan.

Stephen is the 3,845th most common surname in the USA.

MacStèaphain (Scottish Gaelic) Stephen is a sept of the clan MacTavish. It is believed that Stephens from North East Scotland (Morayshire, Banffshire, and Aberdeenshire) south of the Moray Firth are descended from a Viking named Tarben whose longship landed in Banffshire in the late 10th century CE. His name was Christianized to Stephen.

Notable people with the surname

• Stephen (Australian legal family), a prominent legal dynasty, includes

* Sir Alfred Stephen (1802–1894), Chief Justice of New South Wales

* Sir Colin Stephen (1872–1937), lawyer and horse racing administrator

* George Milner Stephen (1812–1894), Australian politician and faith healer

* Harold Stephen MLA (1841–1889), Australian politician

* Sir Henry Stephen (Matthew Henry Stephen 1828–1920), Puisne Judge in New South Wales

* James Wilberforce Stephen (1822–1881), judge of the Victorian Supreme Court

* Montagu Stephen MLA (1827–1872), solicitor and politician

* Septimus Alfred Stephen MLC (1842–1901), solicitor and politician

• A. G. Stephen (1862–1924), Hong Kong banker
• Caroline Emelia Stephen (1834–1909), British philanthropist and writer on Quakerism
• C. M. Stephen (1918–1984), Indian politician
• Elizabeth Willisson Stephen (1856-1925), American author
• George Stephen, 1st Baron Mount Stephen, Canadian businessman, financier, philanthropist
• George A. Stephen (c.1922–1993), American inventor and entrepreneur
• Harry Lushington Stephen, judge, alderman, writer
• Hugh R. Stephen (1913–2002), mayor of Victoria, BC, Canada
• James Stephen (disambiguation), several people

*James Stephen (architect) (1858–1938), American architect

*James Stephen (British politician) (1758–1832), British abolitionist lawyer and Member of Parliament

*Sir James Stephen (civil servant) (1789–1859), British under-secretary for the colonies, 1836–1847

*Sir James Fitzjames Stephen (1829–1894), British judge and anti-libertarian writer

*James Kenneth Stephen (1859–1892), English poet

• Jimmy Stephen (1922–2012), footballer
• Julia Stephen (1846–1895), English art model, wife of Leslie
• Leslie Stephen, English author, critic, historian, biographer, mountaineer, husband of Julia
• Marcus Stephen (born 1969), President of Nauru (2007–2011)
• Margaret Stephen (midwife), 18th-century British midwife and author
• Nicol Stephen, Scottish politician
• Ninian Stephen (1923–2017), Australian judge and Governor-General of Australia
• Norman Stephen (1865–1948), Scottish schoolmaster and cricketer
• Pamela Helen Stephen (1964–2021), English opera singer
• Patrick John Stephen (1864–1938), Methodist minister in Sydney, Australia
• Shamar Stephen, American football player
• Susan Stephen, English actor
• W. S. E. Stephen (died c. 1973), philatelist

See also

• Stephen, given name

References