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Stein

Boys' name

Literal meaning not recorded; Norwegian and Old Norse origin

Stein has been given to 108 babies in the U.S. since 1960. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 1965, with 8 recorded.

Babies named Stein, 2012

1 in 610,000

Stein over time, 1880–2025

Boys
0246818801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Stein: meaning, origin, and history

Literal meaning not recorded; Norwegian and Old Norse origin

Norwegian and Old Norse

What Stein means

Stein is a given name.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

Borrowed from German Stein. Doublet of Stone and Steen.

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Stein (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Stein is used in English and Norwegian Nynorsk. Its origins include Norwegian and Old Norse.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Stone, Steen, Steinur, Steinn and Sten.

Pronunciation and spelling

In Norwegian Nynorsk, Stein is pronounced /stɛɪːn/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 108 boys were recorded with the name Stein between 1960 and 2012. Its highest annual count was 8 in 1965; its best national rank was #3,218 in 1965.

How common is Stein?

Stein had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 2012, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 2012
1 in 610,000
6 of 3,657,590 births
Among boys only
1 in 316,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2012
Unranked
Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size
422,543 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Stein sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2012 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 422,543 children born in 2012 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Stein. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Steins were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Stein was born before 1970 — so the typical Stein is around 55 today.

Median birth year
1970
About 55 years old
Biggest decade
1960s
43.5% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
25.0%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
108
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1960s — 43.5% of all recorded uses (47).

Is Stein rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
—
Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago
New entry
Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago
—
Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago
—
Not published both years
Share of its own peak
0%
Peak was 1965 (8)
Years since peak
60
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
19.2% average annual change
Best rank ever
#3,218
1965

Spellings of Stein

Stein is not the most common spelling — Steven is, with 63.8% against Stein's <0.01%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Stein around the world

Where Stein ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • Norway
    1880–2015
    #479
    in 2015
  • South Australia
    2002–2002
    #606
    in 2002

Popularity data from Statistics Norway and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). SSB, CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Stein by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#3,218
1965
Peak year
1965
8 that year
First recorded
1960
Last recorded
2012
All-time count
108
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Stein

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

SteenStepanStetsynSteedStetsenSteelSteliosReinStenKleinSteevenStepenSterlynStefenStephanosStelmoStebanSteelyStepfonStevnSteeveStellaStellarKhyrein

Sibling names for Stein

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Stein

Top names of 1965, Stein's peak yearThe 1960s in fullOther names that peaked in 1965Boys' names starting with S