Tristan
Top 1000
About Tristan
Tristan -- known through medieval legend and Wagnerian opera -- has a slightly wistful, touching air. This, combined with the name's popular "an" ending, makes Tristan very appealing to parents seeking a more original alternative to Christian.
One influence was the character Tristan Ludlow played by Brad Pitt in the 1994 movie Legends of the Fall, based on a Jim Harrison novel.
Tristan is a dragon-slaying hero of Celtic legend, whose story was incorporated into Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, in which Tristan is one of the Knights of the Round Table, consumed by his doomed love affair with Queen Isolde. Wagner set the story to music in his opera Tristan und Isolde.
Tristan and its alternate form Tristram have been found in later lit as well. Tristram Shandy is a famous early comic novel by Laurence Sterne (in which the hero's father calls Tristram the worst name in the universe); Tristan is a major character in James Herriott's All Creatures Great and Small, and there is an eponymous novella by Thomas Mann.
Particularly popular in Canada, Tristan was chosen for their sons by Travis Tritt, Wayne Gretzky, Natasha Henstridge and, most recently, by Elsa Pataky and Chris Hemsworth. Basketball player Tristan Thompson hails from Canada.
Other variants of Tristan include Tristen, Tristin, Triston and Tristian.
Pronounced TRIS-tun.
As of October 2026, Tristan ranked #309 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #68 in 1996, Nameberry popularity #233.
Editor's take: The name Tristan is a boy's name of Celtic origin meaning "noise or sorrowful".
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #98 | 3,927 | 2,044.4 |
| 2015 | #101 | 3,926 | 2,048.3 |
| 2016 | #108 | 3,636 | 1,916 |
| 2017 | #121 | 3,308 | 1,787.2 |
| 2018 | #123 | 3,229 | 1,777.9 |
| 2019 | #151 | 2,569 | 1,431.8 |
| 2020 | #182 | 2,124 | 1,230.5 |
| 2021 | #208 | 1,822 | 1,041.5 |
| 2022 | #225 | 1,600 | 916.4 |
| 2023 | #253 | 1,379 | 806.2 |
| 2024 | #267 | 1,296 | 752.2 |
| 2025 | #309 | 1,103 | 645.8 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Tristan.
- Adrian
- Alec
- Xavier
- Malachi
- Damian
- Ezekiel
- Matteo
- Dominic
- Leon
- Josiah
- Isaiah
- Damon
- Micah
- Damien
- Lorenzo
- Tobias
- Seth
- Elias
- Roman
- Matthias
Tristan on lists
Famous Tristans
- Tristan Tzara (born Samuel Rosenstock)
Romanian,French avant,garde artist
- Tristan Trevor James Thompson
Canadian basketball player
- Tristan Paul Mack Wilds
American actor
- Tristan Bowen
American soccer player
- Tristan John Gemmill
English actor
- Tristan Somchai Do
Thai footballer
- Tristan Thomas
Australian Olympic hurdler
- Tristan Gommendy
French racing driver
- Tristan MacManus
Irish dancer on TV's "Dancing with the Stars"
- Tristan Oliver Vance Evans
drummer for British band The Vamps
- Tristan Vautier
French racing driver
- Tristan Rogers
Australian,American actor
- Tristan Bernard
French playwright
- Tristan Dean Resnick
American child model
- Tristan Tales
American YouTuber
- Jared Tristan Padalecki
American actor
- Tristan Bates (b. 1971)
son of actors Alan Bates and Victoria Ward; twin brother of actor Benedick Bates
- Tristan James Tritt (b. 1999)
son of singer Travis Tritt
- Tristan Blackley (b. 2005)
son of baseball player Travis Blackley
- Tristan Wohlert (b. 2006)
son of singers Johan Wohlert of Mew and Pernille Rosendahl of Swan Lee
- Tristan Cousins (b. 2007)
son of skaters Elena Berezhnaya and Steven Cousins
- Tristan Ayley (b. 2010)
son of bassist Mike Ayley of Marianas Trench
- Tristan Milos Trump (b. 2011)
son of Don Trump, Jr.; grandson of U.S. President Donald Trump
- Tristan Blaise Lagle (b. 2011)
son of TV personalities Hope Harbert and Ben Lagle of "16 and Pregnant"
- Tristan Hemsworth (b. 2014)
son of actor Chris Hemsworth; twin of brother Sasha
Tristan in pop culture
- Nikolaj Tristan Johan von Henningsen de Bretteville
main male character in Scarlett Avery’s book “Undeniable Seduction”.
- Tristan
Cornish knight in the 12th century legend "Tristan and Isolde"
- Tristan Thorn
character in Neil Gaiman's "Stardust"
- Tristan Ludlow
character in movie "Legends of the Fall"
- Tristan DuGray
character on TV's "Gilmore Girls"
- Tristan Farnon
a main character in James Herriot's "All Creatures Great and Small" series
- Tristan Milligan
character on TV's "Degrassi: The Next Generation"
- Tristan McLean
character in the Heroes of Olympus series
- Tristan Berkeley
character in The Mother,Daughter Book Club by Heather Vogel Frederick
- Lord Tristan Kent
character in Karen Lynch's Relentless Series
- Tristan Mckie
character in the YouTube series "Most Popular Girls in School"
- Tristan de Martel
character on TV's "The Originals"
- "Tristan"
song by Patrick Wolf