Stephanos or Stefanos, in Greek language Στέφανος, is a masculine given name derived from the Greek word στέφανος ( stéphanos), meaning "wreath, crown" and by extension "reward, honor, renown, fame", from the verb στέφειν ( stéphein), "to encircle, to wreathe".[ στέφανος, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus] In Ancient Greece, crowning wreaths (such as ) were given to the winners of contests. Originally, as the verb suggests, the noun had a more general meaning of any "circle"—including a circle of people, a circling wall around a city, and, in its earliest recorded use, the circle of a fight, which is found in the Iliad of Homer.[ Homer, Iliad, 13.736, on Perseus] The English equivalent is Stephen.
People or biblical figures with the given name include:
- Antiquity & Middle Ages (chronologically)
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Saint Stephen (Greek: Stéphanos) (c. AD 5-c. 34), considered the first Christian martyr
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Stephanos Byzantios, 6th-century author of a geographical dictionary
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Stephanos of Alexandria (fl. c. 580–c. 640), Byzantine philosopher and teacher
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Stephanos Sahlikis (1330–after 1391), Cretan satirical poet
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Stephanos Tzangarolas (1660-1675–1710), Greek painter of the late Cretan Renaissance
- Modern period (alphabetically)
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Stephanos, primate of Tallinn (born 1940), primate of the Orthodox Church of Estonia since 1999
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Stephanos Bibas (born 1969), United States circuit judge and professor of law and criminology
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Stephanos Christopoulos (1876–after 1906), Greek wrestler and weightlifter
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Stefanos Dedas (born 1982), Greek professional basketball head coach
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Stefanos Dragoumis (1842–1923), Greek judge, writer and Prime Minister of Greece in 1910
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Stefanos Gennadis (1858-1922), Greek general
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Stefanos Kapino (born 1994), Greek football goalkeeper
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Stefanos Kasselakis (born 1988), Greek businessman, entrepreneur and politician
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Stephanos Mousouros, Ottoman-appointed Prince of Samos from 1896 to 1899
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Stephanos Papadopoulos (born 1976), Greek-American poet
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Stephanos Stephanides (born 1951), Cypriot-born author, poet, translator, critic, ethnographer and documentary filmmaker
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Stephanos Theodosius (1924–2007), Bishop of the Calcutta diocese of the Malankara Orthodox Church
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Stefanos Tsitsipas (born 1998), Greek tennis player
