Steven
/ˈstiːvən/
"steven" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Steven” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #4,800 in English word frequency and used as a proper noun.
- #4,800
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A male given name from Ancient Greek, variant of Stephen.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | Steven |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| IPA | /ˈstiːvən/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #4,800 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Steven” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for Steven is 6 letters long, classified as a proper noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈstiːvən/. Corpus data places it at rank #4,800 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "A male given name from Ancient Greek, variant of Stephen.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for Steven, with forms such as "setven", "ssteven", and "steevn". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Sven", "stove", "stolen", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: Inherited from Middle English Stevene, Steven, from Anglo-Norman Estievne, Estievene, from Latin Stephanus, from Ancient Greek Στέφανος (Stéphanos), from στέφανος (stéphanos, “crown, wreath”), from στέφω (stéphō, “to put round, to surround”). The correct English form is Steven, spelled S-T-E-V-E-N.
Definition
- 1A male given name from Ancient Greek, variant of Stephen.
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English Stevene, Steven, from Anglo-Norman Estievne, Estievene, from Latin Stephanus, from Ancient Greek Στέφανος (Stéphanos), from στέφανος (stéphanos, “crown, wreath”), from στέφω (stéphō, “to put round, to surround”).
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: setven,ssteven,steevn,stevenn,stevne,stevven,stteven,stveen,tseven
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Steven - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “Steven”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-T-E-V-E-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈstiːvən/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “Sven” - see the side-by-side comparison. Steven vs Sven
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.