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The surname Stephenson

A patronymic surname, carried by 47,641 people in the United States.

3 syllables Soundex S315

Stephenson: #733 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#10Martinez#100Jimenez#10,001Dubon Stephenson #733, 47,641 people Stephenson: #733 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#100Jimenez Stephenson #733, 47,641 people
Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Stephenson is more common than 99.5% of them.

Origin

From Stephen + -son.

Stephenson is a patronymic surname: formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 47,641 people named Stephenson in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 6,481 Americans. That is up 2.1% since 2000, when the Census counted 46,662.

#733
rank among US surnames
47,641
people in 2010
16
per 100,000 Americans
+2.1%
change since 2000 (was #668)
RankSurnamePeople1 in
#724Mata48,1206,416
#725Rosario48,0516,425
#726Vang48,0366,427
#727Walter48,0246,429
#728Henson48,0136,430
#729O'Neal47,9796,435
#730Mosley47,9636,437

Who is named Stephenson

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

80% of people named Stephenson identified as white (not Hispanic), 14% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.6% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

  • White (not Hispanic) 80%
  • Black (not Hispanic) 14%
  • Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.6%
  • Two or more races 2.0%
  • American Indian and Alaska Native 0.7%
  • Asian and Pacific Islander 0.6%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Stephensons

12 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

  • Neal Stephenson
    American science fiction writer (born 1959)
  • Rosie Stephenson-Goodknight
    American Wikipedia editor, focused on closing its gender gap; Knight of Serbia, born 1953
  • Lance Stephenson
    American basketball player (born 1990)
  • James Stephenson
    British-American actor (1889-1941)
  • John Stephenson
    American actor (1923–2015)
  • Marjory Stephenson
    British biochemist (1885–1948)
  • Frank Stephenson
    American automobile designer, born 1959
  • Bob Stephenson
    American actor, screenwriter and producer, born 1967
  • Michael Stephenson
    American actor and director, born 1978
  • Isaac Stephenson
    American politician (1829-1918)
  • Nicola Stephenson
    British actress, born 1971
  • Karen Moras
    Australian swimmer, Olympic bronze medalist, former world record-holder, born 1954

Notable Stephensons come mostly from the United States (9), the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1) and the United Kingdom (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Stephenson

Stephenson has the Soundex code S315, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code S315.

Questions

Where does the surname Stephenson come from?
From Stephen + -son.
How common is the surname Stephenson?
47,641 people in the United States had the surname Stephenson in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 6,481 Americans. It ranked 733rd of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Stephenson?
In the 2010 Census, 80% of people named Stephenson identified as white (not Hispanic), and 14% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Stephenson?
Neal Stephenson, American science fiction writer (born 1959), followed by Rosie Stephenson-Goodknight.
Where is the surname Stephenson most common?
Wikidata records people named Stephenson in the United States, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the United Kingdom and 1 other country.
What type of surname is Stephenson?
Stephenson is a patronymic surname, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.
Is the surname Stephenson getting more or less common?
More common. 46,662 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 47,641 in 2010, up 2.1%.