Thirston
An English place name referring to a person's farm or settlement.
Name Census estimates that about 0 living Americans carry the first name Thirston. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Thirston today is around 0 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Thirston births was 1921 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Thirston. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Thirston. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
0
~ - Americans
Peak year
1921
6 babies that year
Average age
-
1921 SSA rank
#4,278
Tracked since 1921
Popularity
Thirston: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Thirston by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Thirston during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1920s | 6 | 0 | 6 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Thirston
The name Thirston is an English name that originated in the Middle Ages. It is believed to have derived from the Old English words "þyrst" meaning "thirst" and "tun" meaning "town" or "settlement." The name likely referred to a place where travelers could quench their thirst, perhaps a village with a well or a tavern.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Thirston can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, which documented a place called "Thristun" in Northumberland, England. This suggests that the name was already in use as a place name during the 11th century.
In terms of historical figures bearing the name, one notable individual was Thirston Bonde (c. 1450 – c. 1520), an English churchman and academic who served as the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge in the early 16th century.
Another early bearer of the name was Thirston Parry (c. 1570 – c. 1645), a Welsh landowner and Member of Parliament for Caernarvonshire in the early 17th century.
In the 18th century, Thirston Smith (1717 – 1794) was an English lawyer and politician who served as a Member of Parliament for Sudbury.
Moving into the 19th century, Thirston Edmunds (1818 – 1895) was a British civil engineer who played a significant role in the construction of the London Underground railway system.
Lastly, Thirston Somerville (1881 – 1954) was a British Army officer who served in both World War I and World War II, and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for his military service.
These examples demonstrate that while not a particularly common name, Thirston has been in use throughout various periods of English and British history, with bearers of the name coming from various walks of life, including academia, politics, engineering, and the military.
People
Thirston + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Thirston as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with T
Other first names starting with T with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Thirston: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Thirston?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 0 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Thirston going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about - US residents.
Is Thirston a common name?
We classify Thirston as "Very Rare". It ranks above 2.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 6 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Thirston most popular?
The single biggest year for Thirston was 1921, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Thirston is about 0 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Thirston in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Thirston a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Thirston in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Thirston still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Thirston in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Thirston can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people are named Thirston?
See how many Americans are named Thirston on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.