Bastian is the German short form of Sebastian, which comes from the Greek sebastos, "venerable", and originally meant a man from the city of Sebaste. Readers know Bastian Balthazar Bux, the shy boy who falls into the book in Michael Ende's The NeverEnding Story. In the United States Bastian has hovered between number 1000 and 1400 since 2015, came closest to the top 1000 at number 1002 in 2024 and ranks number 1021 in 2025.