Stephanie

Where the name comes from

• Greek, via Latin
  crown, wreath (feminine of Stephen)
  Greek stephanos "crown, wreath; reward, honor"; Latin feminine Stephania
  etymonline: "a female form of Stephen"; DMNES: "Fem. of Stephen", with Latin Stephania recorded in France in 814 (about 1,212 years ago). A Greek stephanos was a garland or victor’s crown, not a royal diadem (LGPN). Greek stephanē "brim of a helmet" is not the immediate source (etymonline). The English spelling follows French Stéphanie.

Stephanie across traditions

• Christian. Feminine of Stephen, the deacon of the Jerusalem church who "was stoned to death" (Thayer), remembered as the first Christian martyr.
• Ancient Greek. Feminine derivatives were rare in antiquity: LGPN counts "just seven instances of Stephane, three Stephanias."
• Medieval and modern European; Latin American. Recorded in medieval France (Stephania 814; vernacular Thiénotte), Italy (Stefania), Catalonia (Stefania 1131) and Switzerland (Stephaneta 1349) (DMNES). Modern forms: Spanish Estefanía, Portuguese Estefânia, Italian and Polish Stefania, German Stefanie, Czech Štěpánka, Russian Stefaniya.
• United States (SSA). 722,648 combined births, 1950s–2010s (including Stefanie, 15,833). #119 (1950s), #45 (1960s), #9 (1970s), peak #6 in the 1980s (234,006 with Stefanie), #14 (1990s), #51 (2000s); out of the top 200 in the 2010s. etymonline: "A top-20 name for girls born in U.S. 1969-1996."

Who carried it

• Stéphanie de Beauharnais (1789–1860): Adopted daughter of Napoléon I; wife of Charles, Grand Duke of Baden.

Forms in other languages

Stefanie, Stephany, Stephani, Stephania, Stefani, Steph, Stéphanie, Estefanía, Stefania, Étiennette, Štěpánka, Stefaniya

Stephanie in letter-number systems

Hebrew, Greek and other traditions gave every letter a number, and read meaning into the totals. These are the counts, computed; the readings are inside the Innerverse.