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Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel.
You asked about a medieval version of the modern last name <Stevens>, specifically as an English last name in 1200-1300. You also asked if the spelling <Stephens> derived from a common point with <Stevens>, by which we understand you to ask if they are variant spellings of the same name.
<Stevens> and <Stephens> are variant spellings of the same last name. As a byname, <Steven>, without the "-s", is a patronymic [1] in origin. By the second half of the 13th century, however, it might well have referred to the bearer's grandfather or even great-grandfather rather than his father. <Steven> existed in a variety of spellings in the 13th century, including
Stephen 1260 Stiven 1279 Stefne 1283 Stevene 1296 [2,3]
Any of these, combined with an appropriate given name, would create an authentic name for 13th century England.
Forms ending in "-s" or "-es", such as <Stevenes> or <Stephenes>, were genitive, or possessive, and usually referred to the wife or a servant of Steven. <Stevens> and <Stephens> are much later spellings.
If you would like to look at some lists of period given names, there are a number of articles available in the Academy library at
We hope this letter has been helpful. Please write us again if you have any other questions or if any of this letter has been unclear. Arval Benicoeur, Talan Gwynek and Walraven van Nijmege contributed research and commentary for this letter.
For the Academy,
Livia Montgomery
[1] A patronymic is a byname that identifies a person by naming his or her father. In 13th century England it was usually just the father's given name, so that a man named Walter who was the son of a man named Steven might have been known as <Walter Steven>.
[2] Reaney, P.H. and R.M. Wilson. _A Dictionary of English Surnames_, 3rd ed. Oxford : Oxford University Press, 1995.
[3] Bardsley, C.W. _A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames_. London : Henry Frowde, 1901.