Cebastian

Meaning & origin

Cebastian first appeared on U.S. birth records in 1992, peaking in popularity in 2014, after which its usage began a steady decline. By 2025, it ranked 12,008 nationally, with roughly 1 in 341,615 newborn boys given the name. As a modern respelling of Sebastian, it reflects a trend toward phonetic spellings that modify traditional names without altering their pronunciation. The name has not been associated with any particular state or region, appearing sporadically across the country. While Cebastian remains rare, its parent name Sebastian has been a mainstay of Western naming traditions for centuries.

Cebastian is a modern respelling of Sebastian, which derives from the Latin name Sebastianus, meaning 'from Sebaste'. Sebaste was the name of several ancient cities; the epithet 'sebastos' in Greek means 'venerable' or 'august'. The name Sebastian became common among early Christians due to the popularity of Saint Sebastian, a 3rd-century Roman martyr. The variant Cebastian appears in recent decades, likely influenced by the phonetic spelling of the name with a soft 'c'.