Tristin
Tristin is a masculine name of Celtic origin meaning "sad" or "sorrowful".
Name Census estimates that about 12,341 living Americans carry the first name Tristin. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 77.5% of registrations being male. The average person named Tristin today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tristin births was 1996 (787 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tristin. 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
- • Tristin was once a predominantly female name but has become increasingly popular for boys in recent decades.
People living today
12K
~ 1 in 27,774 Americans
Peak year
1996
787 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,936
Tracked since 1968
Gender
Gender distribution for Tristin
Tristin is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 12,572 total registrations, 9,745 (77.5%) were male and 2,827 (22.5%) were female.
Tristin as a male name
- Ranked #2,936 in 2024
- 43 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1996 (630 births)
Tristin as a female name
- Ranked #12,108 in 2021
- 8 female births in 2021
- Peak: 1996 (157 births)
Popularity
Tristin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tristin from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 5,496 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tristin 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 Tristin during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tristins live
The SSA's state-level files cover 43 states and territories. Texas, California, Florida recorded the most babies named Tristin, while West Virginia, Wyoming, New Jersey recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 210 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Tristin
The name Tristin originated from the medieval French name Tristan, which was derived from the Brittonic Celtic name Drystan or Drust. This name is believed to have originated in Cornwall or Brittany, and its roots can be traced back to the 6th century. The name is thought to be composed of the elements "trist," meaning "sad" or "sorrowful," and a diminutive suffix.
The name gained popularity through the legendary figure of Tristan, a knight of the Round Table and the tragic hero of the Arthurian romance "Tristan and Iseult." This medieval tale, which was widespread in Europe during the 12th and 13th centuries, tells the story of Tristan's ill-fated love for the beautiful Iseult, who was married to his uncle, King Mark of Cornwall.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Tristin can be found in the 12th-century Norman-French romance "Tristan de Léonois" by Béroul. In this work, Tristin is portrayed as a skilled warrior and musician, embodying the ideals of chivalry and courtly love.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Tristin. One of the earliest was Tristin of Nanteuil (c. 1201-1271), a French nobleman and trouvère (poet and composer) who was active during the 13th century. Another was Tristin l'Hermite (1601-1655), a French dramatist and poet who was a member of the Académie française.
In the realm of literature, Tristin Jones (1765-1827) was a Welsh writer and translator who is best known for his translation of the epic poem "The Gododin" into English. Additionally, Tristin Tzara (1896-1963) was a Romanian-born French avant-garde poet, essayist, and performance artist, who was a central figure in the Dada movement in the early 20th century.
One of the most famous bearers of the name was Tristin Narvaja (1926-1965), an Uruguayan writer, poet, and journalist who was a prominent figure in the literary circles of Montevideo during the mid-20th century. His works, which often explored themes of love, loss, and existentialism, have had a lasting impact on Uruguayan literature.
People
Tristin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tristin 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
Tristin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tristin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 12,341 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tristin 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 1 in 27,774 US residents.
Is Tristin a common name?
We classify Tristin as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 12,572 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tristin most popular?
The single biggest year for Tristin was 1996, when 787 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tristin is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Tristin a male name?
Yes, 77.5% of people registered as Tristin 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.
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.