Tristan is a boy name with a modern feel, drawn from real birth records. Below you'll find what Tristan means and where it comes from, plus how many babies have been named Tristan across the United States, UK, Ireland and New Zealand, how popular Tristan has been over the decades, and the year it peaked.
Tristan is a boy name of Celtic origin meaning “of uncertain meaning”. a knight in Arthurian legend.
| Country | Births on record |
|---|---|
| United States since 1880 | 130,794 births |
| England & Wales since 1996 | 9,103 births |
| Scotland since 1974 | 504 births |
| Northern Ireland since 1997 | 293 births |
| Ireland since 1964 | 1,126 births |
| New Zealand top 100, since 1954 | 111 births |
Counts come from official national birth-registration statistics: U.S. Social Security Administration, England & Wales (Office for National Statistics), Scotland (National Records of Scotland), Northern Ireland (NISRA), Ireland (Central Statistics Office) and New Zealand (Dept. of Internal Affairs). Coverage spans differ, so totals aren't directly comparable across countries.
Babies named Tristan per year, United States (1946 to 2025). United States peaked in 1996 (5,844/yr) · England & Wales peaked in 2010 (517/yr) · Ireland peaked in 2008 (74/yr) · Scotland peaked in 2011 (30/yr) · Northern Ireland peaked in 2007 (22/yr).
Tristan has been a fairly common baby name in the United States. It was most common in 1996, when it ranked #120 nationally (given to 6,114 babies that year), and a popular choice in the 1990s.
Tristen · Tristin · Triston · Trystan · Tristyn · Trysten · Tryston · Treston
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