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Boy · Old Norse
Torstein
Say it: TOR-stain
Meaning
From the god-name Þórr and steinn 'stone'.
Certainscholars agree on this meaning.
One of the most frequent names on Viking-age runestones, carried to England and Normandy as Thurstan.
Its wave through time
Rare in the records
In the United States
- 11 babies given this name since 2014
- At its height in 2014, about 1 in 319,700 boys
- Fewer than 5 babies a year in 2020
Through the ages
- The Viking and Anglo-Saxon Age700 to 1100
- The High and Late Middle Ages1100 to 1450
- Victorian and Belle Époque1837 to 1914
- The Modern Age1880 to today
Used by
The family of the name
Other spellings: Thorstein
| Icelandic | Þorsteinn |
|---|---|
| Swedish | Torsten |
| German | Thorsten |
| English | Thurstan |
Famous bearers
- Thorstein Veblen, American economist of Norwegian descent
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- Viking Age runestone inscriptions
- The Icelandic sagas and other Old Norse literature
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.
Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.