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ArchivesRe: My column on Stephen and Steven
in reply to a message by clevelandkentevans
I've always felt like people perceive Steven as the American spelling and Stephen as the British spelling, even though both spellings are used in both countries.
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Unfortunately I can't read the column so I don't know if this was addressed, but several people have insisted to me that Steven and Stephen are pronounced differently and are therefore different names. But it seems obvious that the only reason the spelling Steven exists is that the pronunciation of Stephen (with a "v") is nonintuitive.
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The paragraphs from my article on pronunciation are:
"In medieval England, Stephen’s pronunciation varied, as surnames Steffens and Stevens both come from it. By 1550, almost everyone used the “v” sound in Stephen despite its normal spelling with “ph.”"
"In 1940, Steven began to boom even faster. That spelling overtook Stephen in 1950 and has been more common in the U.S. ever since."
I didn't have room to mention it in the column, but it is true that there are many younger people in the USA who do not seem to realize that Stephen is normally pronounced with the "v" sound and today interpret it as another spelling of Stefan or Steffen. There is now a widely known professional basketball player in the USA, Stephen Curry, who pronounces his name that way.
"In medieval England, Stephen’s pronunciation varied, as surnames Steffens and Stevens both come from it. By 1550, almost everyone used the “v” sound in Stephen despite its normal spelling with “ph.”"
"In 1940, Steven began to boom even faster. That spelling overtook Stephen in 1950 and has been more common in the U.S. ever since."
I didn't have room to mention it in the column, but it is true that there are many younger people in the USA who do not seem to realize that Stephen is normally pronounced with the "v" sound and today interpret it as another spelling of Stefan or Steffen. There is now a widely known professional basketball player in the USA, Stephen Curry, who pronounces his name that way.
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