Unisex name ★ peaked 1996

Tristan

Meaning riot Gender Unisex · 5% girls Rank 2025 #309 Trend ↓ Falling 50%

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".

Rank 2025
#309
among boys · ↓42 vs 2024
Babies in 2025
1,125
named Tristan · -14% vs 2024
How common
1 in 1,549
boys born in 2025
Peak year
1996
5,844 babies
All-time total
130,794
#269 all-time among boys
First recorded
1946
in Social Security records

Tristan popularity over time

130,794 babies have been named Tristan since 1946, according to official Social Security records. Switch measure to see births per year or the yearly rank.

Measure
Births per 1,000 babies of that sex, comparable across eras
123418801900192019401960198020002020BoysGirls
BoysGirls

By decade. Change compares yearly averages, so the current partial decade is on equal footing. Best rank is the name's best yearly rank within the decade.

Decade Girls Boys Total Per year Change Best rank
1880s – – – – – –
1890s – – – – – –
1900s – – – – – –
1910s – – – – – –
1920s – – – – – –
1930s – – – – – –
1940s – 19 19 2 – #2,772
1950s – 89 89 9 +368% #2,163
1960s 77 272 349 35 +292% #1,066
1970s 307 1,037 1,344 134 +285% #663
1980s 1,388 7,582 8,970 897 +567% #222
1990s 1,943 23,915 25,858 2,586 +188% #68
2000s 1,978 43,300 45,278 4,528 +75% #80
2010s 698 38,693 39,391 3,939 -13% #84
2020s (to 2025) 160 9,336 9,496 1,583 -60% #182

Where Tristan is heading

A five-year projection from the recent trend in births per 1,000 boys (damped so it flattens over time), converted to babies at today's birth totals. The implied rank places that projection in the 2025 field. A projection, not a promise: real trends bend.

Year Projected babies Per 1,000 boys Implied rank
2026 980 0.57 #339
2027 886 0.52 #365
2028 814 0.48 #391
2029 757 0.44 #425
2030 711 0.42 #442

Where Tristan is most popular

Boys named Tristan per 1,000 boys born in each state, 2021–2025. National average: 0.835 per 1,000. Strongest in Mississippi, Alaska, and Delaware.

Vs national average
well below below near national above well above no data

All 50 states and DC, sorted by rate. Counts are boys named Tristan born 2021–2025; the per-1,000 rate makes states of different sizes comparable, and the last column shows each state against the national average.

State Boys 2021–2025 Per 1,000 vs national
Mississippi 107 1.88 +126%
Alaska 22 1.85 +121%
Delaware 28 1.85 +121%
South Carolina 160 1.55 +85%
Maryland 170 1.43 +71%
Virginia 264 1.39 +67%
Alabama 147 1.34 +61%
Montana 23 1.30 +56%
Georgia 324 1.28 +53%
New Mexico 42 1.27 +53%
Louisiana 127 1.24 +49%
New Hampshire 26 1.17 +40%
Connecticut 78 1.15 +38%
North Carolina 292 1.14 +37%
Pennsylvania 297 1.12 +34%
Michigan 227 1.11 +33%
Hawaii 17 1.09 +31%
West Virginia 35 1.07 +28%
Florida 505 1.07 +28%
Rhode Island 17 1.04 +25%
Colorado 127 0.984 +18%
Nevada 55 0.965 +16%
New Jersey 194 0.964 +15%
Arkansas 60 0.948 +14%
Washington 155 0.947 +13%
New York 405 0.935 +12%
Oregon 70 0.922 +10%
Missouri 127 0.916 +10%
Tennessee 160 0.886 +6%
Kentucky 88 0.877 +5%
Texas 752 0.853 ≈ national
Massachusetts 117 0.851 ≈ national
Ohio 224 0.845 ≈ national
Idaho 34 0.831 ≈ national
Indiana 130 0.811 ≈ national
California 740 0.810 ≈ national
Vermont 5 0.796 -5%
Arizona 130 0.795 -5%
Illinois 200 0.783 -6%
Oklahoma 69 0.780 -7%
Wisconsin 90 0.760 -9%
Utah 72 0.754 -10%
Minnesota 86 0.701 -16%
Nebraska 28 0.644 -23%
South Dakota 11 0.591 -29%
Kansas 38 0.554 -34%
Maine 10 0.515 -38%
District of Columbia 6 0.406 -51%
Iowa 28 0.406 -51%
North Dakota 5 0.293 -65%
Wyoming – – –

State counts come from the Social Security Administration's state files, which omit any state-year with fewer than five babies of a name, so small states can undercount slightly.

The story of Tristan

Tristan is moderately common for boys in the United States, ranked #309 in 2025 with 1,103 babies given the name. It is currently declining compared with a decade ago.

Since 1946, 130,794 American babies have been named Tristan, about 95% boys and 5% girls, making it a genuinely unisex name. Its peak came in 1996, when 5,844 newborns received the name, the signature sound of the 1990s.

The chart above shows the full history: the popularity view (births per 1,000 babies) is the honest comparison across generations, since total US births have changed enormously since 1880. Switch to the rank view to see where Tristan stood among all boys' names in any year, or use the compare tool to plot it against other names.

How old are people named Tristan?

The median living Tristan is about 18 years old; half are between 12 and 26. An estimated 129 thousand people named Tristan are alive in the United States today.

median 18 020406080100

Estimated from births per year and Social Security period life tables; an approximation of the living age distribution, by age in years.

Tristan year by year

Every year since 2001, and five-year steps back to 1880. Rank is within each sex.

Year Girls Girls rank Boys Boys rank
2025 22 #5,706 1,103 #309
2024 12 #8,903 1,302 #267
2023 26 #5,114 1,382 #253
2022 25 #5,293 1,600 #226
2021 35 #4,163 1,825 #208
2020 40 #3,734 2,124 #182
2019 27 #5,030 2,573 #151
2018 39 #3,842 3,230 #123
2017 50 #3,242 3,309 #121
2016 71 #2,536 3,639 #108
2015 80 #2,339 3,927 #101
2014 61 #2,841 3,927 #98
2013 76 #2,405 4,016 #96
2012 87 #2,188 4,441 #88
2011 108 #1,871 4,732 #87
2010 99 #2,027 4,899 #84
2009 144 #1,571 5,350 #80
2008 157 #1,493 5,659 #81
2007 194 #1,273 5,340 #87
2006 194 #1,249 5,414 #86
2005 186 #1,226 3,591 #113
2004 209 #1,098 3,481 #115
2003 228 #1,017 3,634 #112
2002 263 #872 3,725 #103
2001 197 #1,083 3,575 #108
2000 206 #1,027 3,531 #105
1995 284 #721 3,088 #121
1990 140 #1,212 753 #330
1985 178 #897 1,061 #222
1980 42 #2,339 208 #604
1975 38 #2,228 113 #782
1970 21 #3,198 63 #1,030
1965 12 #3,940 22 #1,719
1960 – – 10 #2,858
1955 – – 9 #2,954
1950 – – 7 #3,303
1945 – – – –
1940 – – – –
1935 – – – –
1930 – – – –
1925 – – – –
1920 – – – –
1915 – – – –
1910 – – – –
1905 – – – –
1900 – – – –
1895 – – – –
1890 – – – –
1885 – – – –
1880 – – – –

Famous people named Tristan

The most globally famous bearers of the name, ranked by fame across Wikipedia editions (Pantheon project, MIT).

  1. 1 Tristan Thompson Tristan Thompson Canadian basketball player (born 1991) Contemporary
  2. 2 Tristan Wilds Tristan Wilds American actor & musician (born 1989) Contemporary
  3. 3 Tristan Tristan Cornish knight of Arthurian legend 535–585 · Medieval
  4. 4 Tristan Tzara Tristan Tzara Romanian-French poet (1896–1963) 19th century
  5. 5 Tristan Murail French composer (born 1947) Contemporary
  6. 6 Tristan Corbière Tristan Corbière French poet (1845–1875) 19th century
  7. 7 Tristan Bernard Tristan Bernard French playwright (1866–1947) 19th century
  8. 8 Tristan Gale Tristan Gale American skeleton racer (born 1980) Contemporary

Portraits from Wikipedia (Wikimedia Commons).

Frequently asked questions

Quick answers about Tristan, drawn from the same Social Security data as the charts above.

How old is the average Tristan?

The median living Tristan is about 18 years old. Half of all living Tristans are between 12 and 26 years old.

How many people named Tristan are alive today?

An estimated 129 thousand people named Tristan are alive in the United States, based on 130,794 recorded births and Social Security life tables.

What does the name Tristan mean?

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".

How popular is the name Tristan in 2025?

Tristan ranked #309 among boys' names in the United States in 2025, with 1,103 babies given the name, according to Social Security Administration data.

How many people are named Tristan?

130,794 babies have been named Tristan in the United States since 1946, based on Social Security card applications.

When was the name Tristan most popular?

Tristan peaked in 1996, when 5,844 newborns received the name.

Is Tristan a boy or girl name?

Tristan is used for both: about 5% of babies named Tristan have been girls and 95% boys.

Is the name Tristan rising or falling?

Tristan is declining, less popular now than a decade ago.

Will Tristan become more popular?

Tristan is trending downward. If the recent trend holds, we project roughly 711 boys named Tristan in 2030, which would rank around #442. Forecasts assume the current trend continues and become less certain further out.

Who are famous people named Tristan?

Well-known people named Tristan include Tristan Thompson (basketball player), Tristan Wilds (actor), Tristan (politician).

Names like Tristan

Names that sound and feel close to Tristan: shared sounds, similar era, similar popularity. Each links to its full history.

Compare Tristan with similar names → More names starting with T →