Di Stefano
An Italian patronymic surname meaning “son of Stefano,” literally “of Stephen.”
The #5,691 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 50,689 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Di Stefano is an Italian surname built from di, meaning “of” or “from,” plus Stefano, the Italian form of Stephen. In origin it signified a family connection to a man named Stefano, so the underlying sense is “son of Stephen” or “belonging to Stefano.” The personal name Stephen ultimately comes from Greek Stephanos, “crown” or “wreath.”
History
This surname is especially common in southern Italy and among Italian diaspora communities. It often appears with or without the space in the written form, as Di Stefano or Distéfano, depending on local spelling habits and record-keeping. As with many Italian surnames, it became fixed and hereditary over time from what was once simply a descriptive patronymic.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Because di means “of,” the surname is structurally similar to many Italian names that began as a label identifying someone as the child or descendant of a given father.