Sufjan is an Arabic name that famously belonged to Abu Sufyan, a man from early Islamic history. The name was given to Stevens by the person who founded Subud, a spiritual community. Stevens said in an interview, "It sounds like Devendra Banhart kind of grew up in this strange kind of cultish environment, and I don't mean that word in a demeaning way. I think we probably come from similar backgrounds. There's a little bit of that in my history."