Stephanie

There is a new Princess in the World. Over the weekend, the Crown Prince of Luxembourg married Countess Stéphanie de Lannoy and like many people, I love a good royal wedding. There is something magical about it that makes me feel like I have just witnessed a real-life Disney fairytale. So, in honour of the royal marriage, I have decided to profile the name Stephanie today.

Stéphanie de Lannoy, 
Crown Princess of Luxembourg

Stephanie (pronounced: STEFF-a-nee) is a female name of Greek origin meaning ‘crown’. It is the feminine form of Stephen and really, the meaning of the name is quite fitting for someone in royalty. There have been quite a few ‘Stephanie’s in royal history, going back to Stéphanie de Beauharnais who was born in 1789 or Stephanie of Milly who died in 1197 and was an influential figure in the Kingdom of Jerusalem. A favourite historical ‘Stephanie’ Royal, solely on name alone is Stéphanie of Belgium who was born Stéphanie Clotilde Louise Herminie Marie Charlotte of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in 1864. Along with the new Crown Princess of Luxembourg, there is also a Princess Stéphanie of Monaco who is the youngest child of Prince Rainier of Monaco and Old Hollywood Icon, Grace Kelly.

The name is not only used in royal circles as there a plenty of people that are bearers of the name from Stephanie Rice, the Australian Olympic Swimmer, to Stephanie Seymour, the Supermodel as well as two fictional characters on the American soap, The Bold and the Beautiful and a character within the popular name source, To Kill a Mockingbird and for all the comic fans, there is a Stephanie in the DC Batman universe as well.One of the most common variations of the name is Stefani (pronounced: the same way or SHTE-fah-nee) which is born by two well known musicians. Gwen Stefani is one, but of course this is her surname, not a given name, and is pronounced in the second fashion, and Lady Gaga’s birth name is Stefani Germanotta and is pronounced in the typical ‘Stephanie’ style. Stefani is not the only variation though – here are a few:

• Stephani, Stephania, Stephany (English)
• Stefanie (German)
• Stefanie (Danish & Dutch)
• Stefania (Italian)
• Stéphanie or Étiennette (French)
• Kekepania (Hawaiian)
• Estefanía (Spanish)

Currently, it is only in the USA that the name Stephanie is ranked. Currently sitting at #146, the highest it ever got in the charts was an impressive #6, where it sat between the years of 1984-1987, though it was a top 10 fixture for that a good decade. The name is in a steady decline now. Whilst still obviously used, it has a slight dated feel though that in no way means that you should not use the name. The name has been used on males as well, ranking as high as #844 in 1985 though I would stick to Stephen for a boy. The variant spellings of Stephany was given to 202 girls in 2011, Estefania was given to 123, Estefani was given to 100, Stefanie was given to 78, Stefania was given to 40, Stefani was given to 37, Stephania was given to 32, Estephanie was given to 31, Estephany was given to 25, Stephenie was given to 20, Estefanie was given to 17, Stephani was given to 16, Estephania was given to 11, Stephannie  was given to 7, Stefanny was given to 7, Stephanny was given to 6, Steffi was given to 6, Steffanie was given to 6, Etsefanny was given to 5 and Estephani was given to 5.

The new Crown Princess of Luxembourg will probably not have the ‘Catherine Middleton’ impact but within Luxembourg the name might gain a rise and if you are elsewhere in the world, it is still a lovely name for a child, with a rich history, and might be a great way to honour a Stephen namesake, and if you want something a little more unusual, the variants are all wonderful possibilities.