The Baby Name Wizard

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Contribute to, or edit, this collection of community wisdom on the name Stephanie!

Comments and insights on the name Stephanie: | Edit

Growing up I always had at least one other Stephanie in my class room. I did'nt like it too much then but as I have gotten older I have to come to love my name. My father named me and I think he did a pretty good job--Stephanie Renee. I do agree alot of the Stephanie's I know have the middle name Lynn.

According to Freakonomics, Stephanie is now considered a "low-end" name, meaning it is mostly given to girls whose parents are of a low socio-economic status.

Stephanie, though pretty, is one of those names that makes me think so much of the 80's-90's, like Lauren, Amanda, Brittany, Lindsey, etc.

Personal experiences with the name Stephanie: | Edit

I was born in 1991, and named after Stevie Nicks. My parents put Stephanie on my birth certificate to have whenever I needed something formal, but called me Stevie from day one. I went only by Stevie until first grade, when on my first of school day a pixie haircut and my telling the teacher my name was Stevie caused her to try and get me to go to the boys washroom. Mortified at 6 years old (understandably so) and with the knowledge that my "real name" was Stephanie, I dropped Stevie completely in an attempt to get away from the being called a boy incident. Today I wish I hadn't. There was at least two other Stephanie's in my class my whole life (the most was 5 of us in one class) and by the time I had come to terms with being called Stevie, it really wasn't my name anymore and I couldn't switch back. I go by Steph now just for that little bit of uniqueness. So a word of advice to all naming parents out there. A) Name your child what you want to call him/her. My parents regret every day that they didn't just name me Stevie. They wanted that to be my name, but having the other name on the birth certificate gave me the option to change it and now my name is not the one that they chose. B) If you give your daughter a boyish name, while these are cute, please, please keep her hair long until she has really got into school to avoid any embarrassing situations for her.

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I was born in 1980, near the height of of "Stephanie" popularity. My only sibling's name was Jennifer, born near the same time and also at the height of its popularity, it seems. I always thought that Jennifer and Stephanie sounded very nice together. Like they "fit" for sisters. I began to dislike the name when I was 12 or so, and tried to switch to going by my middle name, "Chandell" (Shawn-DELL). It was much more unusual and mysterious sounding. I succeeded when my family moved into another state when I was 16. I currently plan to legally change my name to Chandell (Maiden Name) (Surname), Dropping "Stephanie" entirely.

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I grew up hating my name, because I was always one of three or four girls in my class named Stephanie. I've made peace with the name in my adult years, but still prefer Stef to the full name.

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I always liked my name, although as I got older I found more and more people sharing my name. The one thing that has bothered me is that my middle name is Lynn, and it seems like this was a really common first-middle name combo for a lot of people. I sometimes wish I'd had a more exciting middle name.

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I grew up liking my name but always dreading the nicknames that followed. Stephanie is such a classic beautiful name so to have some one call me Steph or Steffy ruins it completely. The only nn that I think suits my name is Stevie (although I can't get anyone to call me that). Also, I keep reading that Lynn is a common middle name for Stephanie. I am happy to say that my middle name is Christine so I guess I break that.

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I was born in '84, so growing up in Southern CA, I was surrounded by girls that shared my name. I was always one of three or four Stephanies in a class. Things got quite confusing when another Stephanie would have the same last initial. However, as I've grown and changed areas, I hardly ever come across any. I can't say I'm very fond of "Steph," as it always makes me think of a staph infection or just plain old stuff. Some of my close friends will call me "Stephie" when they're being cutesy, but I prefer the full version for most occasions and think it lovely. My middle name is "Kay," so I don't fall in with the many Stephanie Lynn/es floating around, though I do share a first and middle name with the daughter of a popular '80s soap couple.

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Growing up, I always hated my name, too. Surprisingly, I didn't start running into other people named Stephanie until after I had decided that my name is very pretty and feminine, when I was in my 20s. Now it seems like almost everywhere I go, I run into another Stephanie! I don't mind much, though--I was named after my dad, Steven Ray (Stephanie Rae) and I'm proud of the fact that I'm named after him, now that I've grown up and gotten past when I was really young and used to tell people my middle name was "Renee" because I thought "Rae" was a boy name! Since I was supposed to be Steve Jr., my parents always mentioned that maybe they should have called me Stevie, which I think would have been really cute. When my older sister began having kids, though, I became "Aunt Stevie," which is good for little kids anyway, since it's not as difficult to say. I've never minded any of my nicknames--I'm not too fond of "Stephy," but my little sister is really the only one who calls me that, so she gets a free pass. Overall, I'm happy with it. It's never been a name that I've ever been made fun of or teased about, so I don't see that there's a downside beyond the popularity factor!

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I know a girl named Stephanie. She's really mean, bossy and rude. Thinks she knows everything. But other than that it's a great name.

Nicknames for Stephanie: | Edit

Steph, Stevie, Steffi, Stef, Stephie, Stef, Stepher, Peffi

Meanings and history of the name Stephanie: | Edit

Stephanie means 'crowned one'

Famous real-life people named Stephanie: | Edit

Stephanie (Stevie) Nicks, American songwriter and rock star
Princess Stephanie of Monaco, daughter of Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier
Stephanie McMahon, World Wrestling Entertainment's Executive Vice President, Creative Development & Operations. She is both a former WWF Women's Champion and a former SmackDown General Manager.
Stephanie Mirror, an extremely smart & pretty girl in the famous Mirror Family in England.She died on 24th Dec 2009.
Stephanie Zimbalist, an actress in the 1980's.
Stephanie Beacham, English actress.

Stephanie in song, story & screen: | Edit

Stephanie Plum is the heroine in Janet Evanovich's series of popular mystery books.
Stephanie Tanner from the '80s-'90s sitcom Full House
Stephanie Forrester and her granddaughter, Steffy Forrester, are both characters on the daytime soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful
"Stephanie Says" is a song by the Velvet Underground
"Stephanie" is an instrumental song by Fleetwood Mac, written by Lindsey Buckingham for Stevie Nicks