boy's name
Sébastien
say-bas-TYEN
- Origin French
- Gender Boy
- Letters 9
- Popularity Top 1000 (France)
- Births on record 318,522
Scotland
#628
as Sebastien, 2023
Sébastien is a boy's name meaning from Sebaste, a city whose own name means venerable — it renders the imperial title Augustus into Greek. It peaked in 1977 and does not currently chart in any market.
- Sébastien is a name of French origin.
- Peaked in France in 1977, when 19,470 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade in France.
- Today about 1 in 13,100 babies in France is given this name.
- First appears in birth records in 1900.
Sébastien over time
Births per decade in France, 1900s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1900s | 905 |
| 1910s | 820 |
| 1920s | 905 |
| 1930s | 630 |
| 1940s | 365 |
| 1950s | 455 |
| 1960s | 8,575 |
| 1970s | 152,145 |
| 1980s | 102,095 |
| 1990s | 29,415 |
| 2000s | 6,520 |
| 2010s | 1,445 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 390 |
What Sébastien means
Sébastien means from Sebaste, a city in Asia Minor. The city's name is the Greek for venerable, which was how the emperors' title Augustus was translated, so the name traces back to an imperial honorific.
Where Sébastien comes from
Sébastien is the French form of the Latin Sebastianus, meaning a man from Sebaste. The city was named to honor Augustus: sebastos is the Greek translation of augustus, venerable or worthy of reverence, and several cities took the name across the eastern empire. Saint Sebastian, a Roman officer shot through with arrows and — in the account that gets forgotten — surviving that, only to be clubbed to death after confronting the emperor again, became one of the most painted figures in Western art precisely because the subject licensed a near-nude male body.
Sébastien in use
Sébastien peaked in France in 1977, when 19,470 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It does not currently rank in the latest year of any of the six markets we track, despite holding 309,921 lifetime births — the accented spelling has stopped being registered in numbers even in France, while the unaccented Sebastien and the English Sebastian both continue.
How popular is Sébastien?
In 2025, Sébastien was given to 45 babies in France, ranking #861 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Sébastien is used
French counts are rounded to the nearest five and nothing below five is published, so these figures show the shape of the name's use rather than an exact tally. Data & sources.
How Sébastien is spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Sebastien | Sebastien is a spelling of Sébastien, used in the United States, where it ranks #2,455. | 14,307 |
Names that peaked alongside Sébastien
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Sébastien also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Sébastien over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
1 nickname for Sébastien
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Sébastien in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Sébastien
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Sébastien — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Sébastien
What does the name Sébastien mean?
From Sebaste — a city whose name is the Greek for venerable, translating the imperial title Augustus.
Did Saint Sebastian die from the arrows?
No. He survived them and was clubbed to death after confronting the emperor a second time.
Is Sébastien the same as Sebastian?
Yes, the French and English forms of the same Latin name.
How popular is Sébastien?
It does not currently chart in any of the six markets we track, despite 309,921 lifetime births.
Is Sébastien a girl's or a boy's name?
Sébastien is given almost entirely to boys in birth records.
What are the nicknames for Sébastien?
Sébastien is usually shortened to Seb.
Is Sébastien a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Sébastien currently ranks #656 in France. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.