Surname Stepankiw - Meaning and Origin

Stepankiw: What does the surname Stepankiw mean?

The last name Stepankiw is a Slavic surname of Ukrainian origin that is derived from the given name “Stephan”. The personal name Stephan likely comes from the Greek name Stephanos, which is derived from “stephanos”, meaning “crown” or “garland”. The surname Stepankiw, therefore, refers to someone or their ancestors who was a descendant of someone named Stephan.

Traditionally, the Stepankiw surname has been localized to regions around certain villages in the Donbas coal mining region of eastern Ukraine (formerly Soviet Union). Today, the Stepankiw surname is fairly common and is found across the Ukraine, as well as in countries in which people of Ukrainian heritage have emigrated to.

It is possible that Stepankiw and a variety of similar surnames might also have been derived from other Slavic names with similar sounding endings in different dialects (i.e. Stankov, Stankevich, etc.) However, generally speaking, Stepankiw is derived from thepersonal name Stepan and carries a symbolic meaning related to Stephanos, a name of ancient Greek origin meaning “crown” or “garland.”

Overall, the Stepankiw surname has a long and rich history in Ukrainian culture and speaks to the family’s heritage and ancestral connection to the name Stephan. The symbolic meaning, too, has a special significance.

Stepankiw: Where does the name Stepankiw come from?

The last name Stepankiw is common primarily in parts of Europe, especially in eastern and central Europe. The surname originated with the Slavic people and is ultimately derived from an old Slavic word meaning “praise” or “acclamation.” It can be found primarily in countries such as Ukraine, Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia, Belarus, and Hungary. It can also be found in minor occurrences within Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, and other nearby countries.

The surname is especially common in the Ukraine. Based on the most recent available records, Stepankiw is the 28th most common last name in the country, with over thirty thousand individuals having this last name. It is also the 4th most popular in the region of Zhytomyr, with many prominent Ukrainian families from this region bearing this surname.

Outside of Eastern and Central Europe, Stepankiw is still found in the United States of America. Very recently, a few hundred individuals with this last name migrated to the United States and Canada due to the political and military conflicts occurring in Ukraine and other nearby countries. It is therefore believed that the numbers of individuals with the last name Stepankiw is only going to increase in this region throughout the years, as more and more Ukrainian families migrate to North America.

Variations of the surname Stepankiw

Stepankiw is a Slavic surname of Polish-Ukrainian origin. Its variants come from two different Slavic languages. Variants in Polish include Stepaniuk, Stepanik, Stepański, Stepańczyk and Stepanko. Variants of the surname in Ukrainian include Stepanuk, Stepanak, Stepanova, Stepanovych and Stepaniak. In some cases, the variants may be further modified with regional suffixes.

The most noteworthy regional suffixes are “–wicz” and “–ewicz”, which are used in Poland and Ukraine respectively. In particular, Stepankiw, Stepański, Stepańczyk and Stepanko can be turned into Stepankiwicz, Stepańskiewicz, Stepańczykiewicz and Stepankowicz when these regional suffixes are added.

Stepankiw is also one of the surnames that underwent a spelling change upon adoption of the Polish orthographic convention. In particular, Stepanik and Stepanuk are the same surname, which is based in the initial Cyrillic letter С (‘s’), but which was Romanized differently depending on the language into ‘s’ and ‘sh’. The dual spelling was eventually simplified by changing Stepanik into Stepankiw.

The spelling change is significant in that it affected the phonetics of the surname, making Stepankiw a softer-sounding variant than the original Stepanik and Stepanuk.

Famous people with the name Stepankiw

• Alan Stepankiw: is a professional lawyer and a political advisor who served as Chief of Staff to Vice President Mike Pence from 2016-2017.
• Alex Stepankiw: is a professional football player who currently plays for the Minnesota Vikings.
• Alexei Stepankiw: is a professional ice hockey player who currently plays for the Anaheim Ducks.
• Andriy Stepankiw: is a professional soccer player who currently plays for the Ukrainian national team.
• Andriy Stepankiw: is a professional chess player who is well-known in Ukraine for becoming the national champion four times in a row.
• Anna Stepankiw: is a professional golfer and a businesswoman who is the founder and CEO of the Stepankiw Holdings, LLC.
• Artem Stepankiw: is a professional tennis player who is known for winning three consecutive titles at the Ukrainian Championships.
• David Stepankiw: is a renowned surgeon and a professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
• Dmitriy Stepankiw: is a professional ice hockey player and a member of the Russian national team.
• Elaine Stepankiw: is an actress and producer best known for her role in the film “Class of 1984”.

Other surnames

Stepanko