Recorded as Strephan and originally Strephon, this is a surname of unproven origins. It is recorded in the county of Yorkshire from Napoleonic times (1794 - 1815), but there is no evidence as to where it came from, or in what spelling form, prior to that date. It would seem to be a 'foreign' spelling of Stephen, except that whilst Stephen is one of the worlds most widely recorded surnames with an estimated two hundred spellings ranging from the British Stephen and Steven to the French Esteve or Touvet, the German and Slavic Steffan and even Zschape, and the Russian Styopushkin, nowhere is there a spelling with an intrusive 'r. However neither is there any other surname of comparable spelling which is not related to Stephen, so this name of Greek origin from 'stephanos' meaning royal or crown, remains our best bet for the origin. St. Stephen was one of the most popular of Christian saints, the more gruesome the death, the greater the later popularity. St Stephen was stoned to death, so he had a high rating. Recordings of this surname are rare, but include Joseph Strephon, the son of Robert and Elizabeth Strephon, who was christened at West Witton in North Yorkshire, on February 12th 1815, the year of the battle of Waterloo.

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