Recorded 1945–2003 Boys' name Peak 1965 170 births

Sten — boys' name

170 babies named Sten in U.S. Social Security records since 1945, with the highest year being 1965. Year-by-year trend, decade aggregates, and state-level rankings drawn from federal birth data.

1940s51950s111960s661970s371980s231990s202000s8
1960s
Peak decade

39% of everyone ever named Sten was born in this single decade.

1965
Single peak year

10 babies were named Sten in 1965 — its busiest year on record.

What the Data Says About Sten

The Social Security Administration has registered 170 babies named Sten between 1945 and 2003, spanning 59 consecutive years of U.S. birth records. As a boy's name, Sten currently falls outside the top 1,000 boys' names for 2003. The name reached its historical peak in 1965, when 10 babies received it in a single year.

Decade-level aggregation shows that Sten performed strongest in the 1960s, accumulating 66 births during that ten-year window. Across the 7 decades of recorded activity, Sten shows a clear decline from its mid-century high. Geographically, the name is most concentrated in California, which accounts for 5 births — the largest state-level total in the dataset — followed by . In total, SSA state-level files list Sten in 1 of the 51 U.S. reporting jurisdictions.

No etymological entry is currently available for Sten in our reference dataset. These figures derive from SSA's annual national and state-level name files, which include any name appearing at least five times in a given year or state-year; names below that threshold are suppressed for privacy and therefore excluded from the totals shown here. The 170 total represents a lower bound — actual usage may be higher in years or states where the count fell below the disclosure floor. This page is provided for informational and research purposes only and does not constitute personal, legal, or naming advice.

Sten at a glance

Last recorded 2003

Total births

170

Since 1945

59 years of records

Peak year

1965

10 births that year

Strongest decade: 1960s

Current rank

Unranked

Outside the modern top-1,000

As of 2003

Active since

1945

Recorded for 59 years

Last year on file: 2003

Sten popularity over time

Annual U.S. births registered with the Social Security Administration · 2003–1945

Last recorded 2003
Peak year (1965)
10
Annual births at peak — across 59 years of records
4681012 2003198919771970196519611945 5

Sten by decade

Total births in each ten-year window — peak vs trough at a glance

Peak: 1960s
Peak decade
1960s
66 births that decade — 39% of Sten's all-time total
1940s51950s111960s661970s371980s231990s202000s8

Sten by state

Where Sten concentrates geographically — total births since 1945

Geographically diffuse
Top 1 states by recorded births for the name Sten
Rank State Visual share Births Share of total
#1 California
5 2.9%
California share of Sten's total US births 2.9%

5 of 170 births nationwide.

Frequently Asked Questions

How popular is the name Sten?
170 babies have been named Sten since 1945. It was last recorded in 2003. The peak year was 1965 with 10 births.
When was Sten most popular?
Sten was most popular in the 1960s decade with 66 total births. The single peak year was 1965.
Where is Sten most popular?
The top states for the name Sten are California (5 births).
How long has the name Sten been used?
Sten has been recorded in Social Security data since 1945, spanning 59 years of data through 2003.
What names are similar to Sten?
Names with a similar sound or spelling include Steven, Stephen, Steve, Sterling, and 4 more. These share a common prefix and are also used for boys.

Data Sources

Data as of 2024. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA).

Primary: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications — National Data, 1945–2003 (ssa.gov/oact/babynames). National-level data includes all names with 5 or more occurrences in a given year.

State-level: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names — State-Level Files (namesbystate.zip). Includes all names with 5 or more occurrences per state per year; rarer names are excluded for privacy.