Tristan

What Tristan means

Means “riot”

Old French, the name of a knight, lover of Iseult in medieval romance Tristan and Iseult, from Celtic Drystan derived from drest meaning "riot" or "tumult".

Source: Wiktionary, “Tristan” (revision 92725904), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Tristan?

US: Falling: down from #101 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #168 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1996, when 5,458 boys got the name (#68 that year). First in the US records in 1946.

How common

• About 1 in 1,549 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 1,638 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 1,964 baby boys in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in DE (2.04 per 1,000 boys), MS (1.48 per 1,000 boys), MT (1.33 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Tristan is #309 in the US and #273 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 98.0% of US babies named Tristan were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

Other spellings

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Tristen116 US · 4 E&W
• Triston56 US
• Tristin37 US
• Trystan14 US · 9 E&W
• Tristyn22 US
• Trustin14 US
• Treston11 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Tristan

Boys

• Gavin#303Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #70 in 2015, #303 in 2025
• Aidan#326“fire”^*
• Bryce#357Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 2000, with 4,319 babies; 919 in 2025
• Connor#166“lover of hounds”^*
• Ivan#162Same root as John, possibly meaning “God is gracious”^*
• Ayden#257Variant of Aidan, meaning “fire”^*

For a sister

• Ashlynn#980Variant of Ashlyn, meaning “dream, vision”^*
• Aileen#799Variant of Eileen, possibly meaning “radiance, beauty”^*
• Allie#569Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #255 in 2015, #569 in 2025
• Kira#385Editor’s note Down from #361 in 2015 to #385 in 2025 in the US
• Fiona#470“fair, white”^*
• Ashlyn#972“dream, vision”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Irish & Celtic, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Tristan’s. Rank is US 2025.