Save Gender Masculine Usage Soviet, Russian (Rare) Scripts Стан(Russian) Pronounced Pron. /ˈstan/(Russian) [key·simplify] Other Forms FormsСтэн (Sten) Meaning & History Combination of the surnames of Сталин (Stalin) and Энгельс (Engels), which refer to Joseph Stalin (1878-1953) and Friedrich Engels (1820-1895). This name was created by Communist parents who were eager to reject traditional names.