The Stevenson surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 75,169 people carried this name — #432 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 3,920 people counted. That is up 3% from 72,892 in 2000.
What the name means
The meaning of the Stevenson surname
A surname originating as a patronymic.
From Stephen + -son.
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Stevenson» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.
In Ireland’s birth registers, 1890
Ireland registered 106 births for the Stevenson name in 1890.
They were registered in all four provinces, most of all in Ulster. By the Registrar-General’s own method — births multiplied by 44.38 — that is about 4,700 people bearing the name in Ireland at the time. The count includes the spelling Stephenson. The Registrar-General’s note on the name: “Antrim, Armagh, and Down.”
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they were born, 1890
Registrar-General for Ireland, «Special Report on Surnames in Ireland» (R. E. Matheson, 1894), births index of 1890 — public domain.
In Switzerland’s population statistics
70 people named Stevenson live in Switzerland.
They live in 8 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Zurich.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), «Surnames of the permanent resident population by canton», 2025, opendata.swiss/en/dataset/nachnamen-der-standigen-wohnbevolkerung-nach-kanton3 · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.
In France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 42 people named Stevenson.
Most of them — 34 — were born outside France. Those born in France came from 3 départements, most often Paris.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they were born
Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.
In Argentina’s national register
At least 25 people named Stevenson live in Argentina.
RENAPER only publishes a name in a province when more than ten people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Misiones.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
RENAPER (National Registry of Persons, Argentina), surnames of residents by province, December 2021 — CC BY 4.0.
In the Nordic population registers
113 people named Stevenson are counted in Sweden and Finland.
Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published. Finland counts its citizens, at home or abroad.
Counted, by country
Own calculations based on data from Statistics Sweden (SCB), surnames with at least two bearers, 31 December 2022 — CC BY 4.0 (names with 20 or more bearers shown) · Digital and Population Data Services Agency (DVV), Finland, surname statistics, August 2026 — CC BY 4.0.
Among the farmers of England and Wales, 1880s
Stevenson was found among the farmers of 14 counties.
It was most frequent in Durham: 108 in every 10,000 farmers there — about 1 in 93. Guppy counted the farmers listed in each county’s directory and recorded a name only where it reached about 7 in every 10,000; where it does not appear, it was rarer than that, not absent. His list gives one count for the spellings Stephenson and Stevenson.
Where it concentrates, on the mapPer 10,000 farmers, by county
And 6 more counties.
H. B. Guppy, «Homes of Family Names in Great Britain» (London, 1890), alphabetical list of English and Welsh names — public domain · farmers in Kelly’s Post Office Directories of the 1880s, per 10,000 farmers in each county.
In Scotland, 1880s
Stevenson was 40 in every 10,000 names in Scotland.
That is about 1 in 250. Its home there, in Guppy’s words: “Mostly south of the Forth and the Clyde.” He counted the more than 20,000 names in Halliburton’s County Directory of Scotland, taking Scotland as a whole, and listed only the names that reached 10 in every 10,000.
H. B. Guppy, «Homes of Family Names in Great Britain» (London, 1890), appendix: alphabetical list of the most frequent Scottish names, p. 594 — public domain · names in Halliburton’s County Directory of Scotland, per 10,000 for the whole country.
In Scotland’s registers today
Stevenson was recorded 296 times in Scotland’s registers of births, marriages and deaths in 2025.
That made it the 60th most common name in those registers. In 1975, the first year of the series, the count was 487. Each birth counts the child’s surname, each marriage both partners’ and each death the surname of the person who died — a yearly count of registrations, not of the people who live in Scotland.
National Records of Scotland, «Most Common Surnames, 2025» (published 26 May 2026): every surname recorded 10 or more times in the 2025 registers, and the series from 1975 · different spellings are counted separately — © Crown copyright 2026. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
In print
Stevenson in American newspapers,
1886–1938.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 679,899 pages in all carry the name.
In print
Stevenson in Australian newspapers,
1810s–2000s.
195,353 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Stevenson. The most, 35,222, date from the 1930s. New South Wales has the most articles, but weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, the name stands out most in the Australian Capital Territory, at 1.3 times its expected share.
Articles, by state
Trove, National Library of Australia (trove.nla.gov.au) · articles in its digitised newspapers that name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Stevenson.
Who carried it
People named Stevenson,
with a public archive behind them.
-
Robert Stevenson 1772–1850 · engineer -
Andrew Stevenson 1784–1857 · politician -
Jonathan D. Stevenson 1800–1894 · politician -
John W. Stevenson 1812–1886 · lawyer -
John Stevenson 1812–1884 · politician
Wikidata (CC0) · portraits via Wikimedia Commons, shown cropped, in the public domain or CC0 · 179 lives in all are documented under this name.
In the public record
People named Stevenson,
in the records of 7 countries.
Soldiers, farmers, migrants and neighbours who carried the name and left a trace in public archives. Everyone shown here died long ago or was born more than a century ago.
United States7,832 records
- U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 2,271
- New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 1,544
- Other U.S. records 4,017
-
Example: U.S. war memorial War record Charles StevensonBorn 1932; from Davidson County, Tennessee. U.S. Army, light weapons infantryman; killed in action 1952 in North Korea. Buried at Nashville National Cemetery, Tennessee.
U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) -
Example: U.S. registration card, 1942 Military record Moses E. StevensonBorn 1917 in Maryland. Enlisted 1941 at Fort George G Meade; driver. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 1998, buried at Restland Memorial Park, Monroeville, Pennsylvania.
U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) -
Example: passenger manifest, 1903 Passenger record Agnes StevensonArrived at New York in 1892 aboard the Furnessia from Glasgow, aged 22; servant. From Derry, Ireland; bound for Philadelphia.
U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted)
Showing 3 of 7,832 records for Stevenson in the United States.
Counts: U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · U.S. National Archives, Famine Irish Passenger Records (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain) · Sacramento County, Historic Burials (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Vietnam Veterans Memorial, photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden, 2009 (public domain); U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain).
Australia5,500 records
- Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 3,109
- Victoria wills and probate, deaths to 2001 875
- Other Australian records 1,516
-
Example: probate petition, 1848 Probate record Mary Sarah StevensonDied 1896 in Hobart, Tasmania, aged 47. Will registered in Tasmania in 1896.
Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0) -
Example: probate petition, 1848 Probate record George Alexander StevensonDied 1916 in St Margaret's Hospital, Launceston, Tasmania. Will registered in Tasmania in 1916.
Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0) -
Pictured: convicts going on board a prison ship, 1829 Transportation record William StevensonTransported to New South Wales aboard the Isabella, arriving 1832; ticket of leave 1836. Native of Essex, Calford.
Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY)
Showing 3 of 5,500 records for Stevenson in Australia.
Counts: Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) · Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0) · Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0) · Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY) · State Library of Western Australia (CC BY 4.0) · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · City of Ballarat, Avenue of Honour Plaques (CC BY 3.0 AU) · ACT Government, Transport Canberra and City Services (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain); Prison-ship in Portsmouth Harbour, with the convicts going on board, etching by Edward William Cooke, 1829, Royal Museums Greenwich (public domain).
Canada959 records
- Nova Scotia Archives name indexes 535
- Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver 98
- Other Canadian records 326
-
Example: Canadian war grave register, 1917 War record Moses StevensonServed in the No. 2 Construction Battalion in the First World War, private; of Thorne's Cove, Nova Scotia.
Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia. -
Example: passenger manifest, 1903 Passenger record Robt StevensonCame to Ontario in 1869 aboard the Serapis, landing at Quebec, bound for Hamilton, Ontario; English.
Archives of Ontario. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Ontario. -
Example: Canadian cemetery Burial record Algy Kent StevensonBuried in 1972 at Queen's Park Cemetery, Calgary, Alberta, aged 49.
City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary.
Showing 3 of 959 records for Stevenson in Canada.
Counts: Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia. · City of Vancouver. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Vancouver. · City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary. · Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada. · City of Winnipeg. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Winnipeg. · Archives of Ontario. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Ontario. · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · Halifax Regional Municipality. Contains information licenced under the Open Government Licence—Halifax. · City of Niagara Falls. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Niagara Falls. · Contains information provided by the City of Waterloo under licence. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Canadian First World War circumstances-of-death register (scan by Scottgraham87 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain); Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, photo by Edgar El (CC BY 3.0).
United Kingdom644 records
- Stirling Council burial records 427
- War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead 141
- Other British records 76
-
Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919 War record Duncan StevensonBorn 1893 at Burghead; labourer. Killed or died by 1921. Named in the Morayshire roll of honour (1921).
National Library of Scotland, Rolls of Honour (public domain) -
Example: burial register, 1858 Burial record Susan McLaren StevensonBuried in 1912 at Callander Cemetery, Stirling, Scotland, aged 76.
Stirling Council. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. -
Example: probate petition, 1848 Probate record Frank StevensonWill proved in 1940; of Colwyn Bay, Denbigh.
National Library of Wales, Wills Index Cards (CC0)
Showing 3 of 644 records for Stevenson in the United Kingdom.
Counts: Stirling Council. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · MOLA and HS2, St James's burial ground data. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. · National Library of Scotland, Rolls of Honour (public domain) · National Library of Wales, Wills Index Cards (CC0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: C. & E. Morton Ltd roll of honour, 1914–1919, photo by Adrian S Pye via Geograph (CC BY-SA 2.0); Burial register of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, 1858, National Library of Wales (CC0); Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain).
Netherlands298 records
- Dutch civil registers (births, marriages, deaths) 169
- Dutch population registers 103
- Dutch church registers before 1811 26
-
Example: marriage register, 1911 Marriage record Hendrik Cornelis StevensonMarried in 1919 in Amsterdam; house painter. Died 1930 in Hilversum, aged 35.
Open Archives, Noord-Hollands Archief (CC BY 4.0) -
Example: marriage register, 1911 Marriage record Anna Maria Cornelia StevensonMarried in 1855 in Rotterdam. Died 1899 in Rotterdam, aged 66.
Open Archives, Stadsarchief Rotterdam (CC BY 4.0) -
Example: marriage register, 1911 Marriage record Daniel StevensonMarried in 1850 in Haarlem; "ijzerdraaier". Died 1852 in Ijsselmonde, aged 34.
Open Archives, Noord-Hollands Archief (CC BY 4.0); Open Archives, Stadsarchief Rotterdam (CC BY 4.0)
Showing 3 of 298 records for Stevenson in the Netherlands.
Counts: Open Archives (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Marriage register, Tilburg, 1911, Regionaal Archief Tilburg (public domain).
New Zealand146 records
- Christchurch City cemetery records 93
- Waimakariri District cemetery records, Canterbury 26
- Other New Zealand records 27
-
Example: burial register, 1858 Burial record Flora StevensonDied 1949, aged 60; buried at Ruru Lawn, Christchurch, Canterbury.
Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0) -
Example: burial register, 1858 Burial record Hector H. StevensonBuried in 1930 at Shortland Cemetery, Thames-Coromandel District, Waikato, aged 28.
Thames-Coromandel District Council (CC BY 4.0) -
Example: burial register, 1858 Burial record Michelle Julie StevensonBorn 1972, died 1999; buried at Kaiapoi Public Cemetery, Canterbury.
Waimakariri District Council (CC BY 4.0)
Showing 3 of 146 records for Stevenson in New Zealand.
Counts: Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0) · Waimakariri District Council (CC BY 4.0) · Thames-Coromandel District Council (CC BY 4.0) · Marlborough District Council (CC BY 4.0) · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · Canterbury Maps (Environment Canterbury), Timaru and Mackenzie District Councils (CC BY 3.0 NZ). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Burial register of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, 1858, National Library of Wales (CC0).
France7 records
-
Example: French death register, 1930 Death record Sebastien Maxwell Marie StevensonBorn 1976 in Paris; died 1994 in Le Chesnay (Yvelines).
Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte) -
Example: French death register, 1930 Death record Robert Barron Kerr StevensonBorn 1913 in the United Kingdom; died 1992 in Lurbe-Saint-Christau (Pyrénées-Atlantiques).
Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)
Showing 2 of 7 records for Stevenson in France.
Counts: Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Death register of Nice, 1930, Archives départementales des Alpes-Maritimes (public domain).
Other spellings of this name
The same name, spelled another way.
Spellings that H. B. Guppy (England and Wales, 1890) or the Registrar-General for Ireland (births index of 1890) counted as one name together with Stevenson.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Stevenson.
- Sterner 5,385 · U.S. census
- Stetson 3,875 · U.S. census
- Steuer 864 · U.S. census
- Stevanovic 345 · U.S. census
- Steve 1,891 · U.S. census
- Stevens 185,674 · U.S. census
- Steward 22,318 · U.S. census
- Stewart 324,957 · U.S. census
- Steyaert 146 · U.S. census
- Steyer 778 · U.S. census
- Stgermain 4,341 · U.S. census
- Stich 2,001 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Stevenson is.
A volume says what happened to it.
Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.