Boy · Celtic (Pictish or Brittonic)
Tristan
Say it: trees-TAHN
Meaning
From the Pictish or Brittonic name Drust/Drustan. The link to French triste 'sad' is a medieval folk etymology.
Disputedsharp disagreement, or a popular meaning that is not supported.
Spread by the 12th-century romances and popular again in France since the 1990s.
Its wave through time
Most used in the 1990s
In the United States
- 123,335 babies given this name since 1946
- At its height in 1996, about 1 in 347 boys
- 2,131 babies in 2020
Through the ages
Used by
The family of the name
Other spellings: Tristram
| English | Tristram |
|---|---|
| German | Tristan |
| Italian | Tristano |
Famous bearers
- Tristan, hero of the Tristan and Iseult legend
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- The medieval Arthurian romances
- Well-known works of 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.