About Abby Sandel

Whether you're naming a baby, or just all about names, you've come to the right place! Appellation Mountain is a haven for lovers of obscure gems and enduring classics alike.

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What do you think?

16 Comments

  1. I love my name and I genuinely would not want anything else. I am by birth Stephen but I love Steve. It is just a proper blokey type name. However I do hate the spelling STEVEN. It looks wrong and to my eye it has little class and appears lazy.

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  2. My birth name is Stephanie, and even though I loathe my name, I’ve always disliked that the common spellings of this name end in -en instead of -an — it feels like a betrayal to Stephanies or something. LOL.

    My g-g-g-g-grandfather’s name was Szczepan, a Polish form. My Polish family’d call me Szczepana, with the nickname Panya. Thus, I go by Panya. 🙂

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  3. Like JNE I know a Steven who’s a III who named his son Stephen (technically not a IV because of the spelling.) They are generally called Steve and (little) Stephen. I also know two young Stephens Jr.’s who use their middle names only.

    I like Stephen, not enough to use it myself, but it’s a name that I’m always pleased to see in a birth announcement.

    I wonder how much of Stephen’s fall in popularity can be blamed on Steve Urkel?

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    1. That’s a nice point, Julie – I forgot about Steve Urkel. I always think of the monkey saying “Steve” in Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs … which doesn’t do much for the name, either.

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  4. Well, I could never use this as my own name is Stephanie! 😉 If that weren’t the case, however, I really like this name. It is classic and masculine, as well as easy to spell and pronounce. I agree that this name is best used in full. I am not a fan of Steve as a nickname, mostly because there are tons of them!

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    1. And I know some fabulous guys called Steve. But the two syllable name seems more wearable.

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  5. Stephen is very nice. It’s solid, classic and has a nice sound. I’ve known quite a few Steves – lots are my age. One is a III and named his son as IV. His son’s nn is not Steve, though, it’s Finn. It’s a bit of a stretch, but I get the leap they took. They’re also of Irish heritage so the Finn thing is also more understandable that way. So Finn is a possible alternative nn. I guess Ven (or Vin depending on how you pronounce the name) is the other possible nn – kind of makes me think of overlapping circles a la Venn diagrams, but nothing wrong with that. I don’t love Stephen as much as Charles, but Stephen is definitely a name it seems we should hear more often.

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  6. I have, of course, known many people named both Steven and Stephen growing up. Actually, one of Mark’s groomsmen was a Stephen, but his name is pronounced “STEF-en”. He always goes by the whole name and I’ve never heard anyone abbreviate it. I’ve come to prefer that pronunciation. I wouldn’t use the name though, because while I have nothing against Stephen Harper, it would feel strange to name a child either Stephen or Harper while the Conservatives are in power — just as I wouldn’t have called my kids Jean or Paul during the Liberal rule.

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  7. I prefer the sound of Stefan to Stephen, and the nickname Steph for Stephen is cooler than Steve, even though it might sound too feminine to some ears. Steve is a pretty common name for guys of my age, so it would take me by surprise to encounter a baby Steve, but it could be cute! I really dislike Stephen Harper, though, so that ruins it a bit.

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    1. I’ve long loved Stefan! I think that’s about All the Right Moves, though … featuring a very young, pre-Top Gun Tom Cruise as Stef.

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  8. Stephen falls into the “I knew a few of these in my school class growing up” category, so it’s not ‘exciting’ enough for me. I do know one 5 year old Stephen locally. And it definitely is a good solid choice.

    There’s the last name Stevenson on my husband’s side of the family, so I guess we could use Steven as a family middle name or maybe the next generation will.

    I was just looking up “Kings of England” this week for name inspiration (seeing as we already have a Henry and someone joked we should have a Charles next). Stephen didn’t really jump off the list for me though.

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  9. I love this name in full – no nickname! So classic, timeless and masculine. It’s one I always recommend when parents say they don’t have a clue what to name their child.

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  10. Thank you! Since it is a family name, I do love it. I don’t know if I love it enough to use it, but it is a nice classic. I think the nickname option of Steve is the dealbreaker for me – if only I could convince my non-existent potential future child to only ever use the full version…

    Unless, perhaps others have additional nickname options?

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    1. I know a person named Steven who goes by Steb sometimes. Why? In Spanish, it’s Esteban, so it went to Steban, then just Steb. Sometimes Tebby Webby too 😉

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