An Italian-style form of Stephen, from Greek meaning crown or garland.
Stephano is the Italian and occasionally Portuguese form of Stephan, itself from the Greek Stephanos (Στέφανος), meaning "crown" or "wreath" — specifically the garland of laurel or olive placed upon the heads of victors in ancient athletic and poetic contests. The name entered the Christian tradition early and forcefully: Saint Stephen, the first Christian martyr, stoned to death in Jerusalem around 34 CE, ensured that the name would carry both triumph and sacrifice. From Greek it flowed into Latin as Stephanus, then branched across medieval Europe into Stefan, Étienne, Esteban, and Stephano.
In the English-speaking world, Stephano is most vividly associated with Shakespeare's The Tempest (c. 1611), where the name belongs to a drunken butler who washes ashore on Prospero's island and falls in with Caliban in a comic subplot of colonial ambition and grandiose delusion. It is a humanizing, even sympathetic portrait — Stephano is greedy and easily manipulated, but also warmly ridiculous, dreaming of kingship over an enchanted island with nothing but a bottle of sack.
Shakespeare likely chose the Italian form to signal the play's Mediterranean and colonial atmosphere. Outside of English, Stephano has long been a standard given name in Italy and among Italian diaspora communities worldwide. Its soft ending and three-syllable rhythm give it a musical quality that the more common Steven or Stephen lacks, and it has seen growing use among parents seeking a classical name with a distinctly European character. It retains both the saint's gravity and the Shakespearean fool's humanity — an unusual double inheritance.