Christian is a patrilineal descendant of Fletcher Christian, leader of the mutineers in the late 18th century on HMS "Bounty", a story told in the 1932 Nordoff and Hall novel "Mutiny on the Bounty", and several subsequent motion picture versions. He is the son of Ivan Roa Christian and Verna Carlene "Dobrey" Young, a descendant of Ned Young. Ivan Roa Christian is the son of Richard Charles Edgar Christian and nephew of Charles Richard Parkin Christian, and is the grandson of Francis Hickson Christian. Steve Christian married Olive Jal Brown in 1972 and they have four children: Trent, Randy, Shawn and Tania.