Trysten
A unisex name of uncertain origin, possibly derived from Tristan.
Name Census estimates that about 1,673 living Americans carry the first name Trysten. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 83.2% of registrations being male. The average person named Trysten today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Trysten births was 2006 (95 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Trysten. 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.
People living today
1.7K
~ 1 in 204,874 Americans
Peak year
2006
95 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,889
Tracked since 1991
Census
Trysten in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,436 people with the first name Trysten, which placed it at #9,601 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#9,601
National first-name rank
People counted
1.4K
1,436 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
66.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Trysten
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Trysten is White at 66.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (10.8%) and Two or More Races (10.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Trysten described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Trysten at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White66.6% · 957
- Hispanic or Latino10.8% · 155
- Two or more races10.1% · 145
- Black or African American9.1% · 130
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 26
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.6% · 23
Gender
Gender distribution for Trysten
Trysten leans heavily male at 83.2% of total registrations, but 285 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Trysten as a male name
- Ranked #8,889 in 2024
- 9 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2011 (79 births)
Trysten as a female name
- Ranked #19,013 in 2014
- 5 female births in 2014
- Peak: 2001 (23 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Trysten on both sides of the split. Of the 1,437 people counted with this name, 1,149 were male (80.0%) and 288 were female (20.0%).
Popularity
Trysten: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Trysten from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 816 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
Trysten 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 Trysten during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Trystens live
The SSA's state-level files cover 13 states and territories. Texas, California, Washington recorded the most babies named Trysten, while Tennessee, Indiana, Georgia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 17 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Trysten
The name Trysten is a modern variant of the name Tristan, which has its origins in the Celtic culture of ancient Britain and Brittany. The name is derived from the Brythonic words "tristo" meaning "sad" or "sorrowful" and "tan" meaning "territory" or "region." The name was popularized by the tragic legend of Tristan and Iseult, a medieval romance that has been retold in various forms throughout history.
The earliest recorded use of the name Tristan dates back to the 6th century AD, when it was mentioned in the Welsh genealogical tract "Bonedd Gwyr y Gogledd." However, the name gained widespread popularity in the 12th century with the publication of the romance "Tristan and Iseult" by the Norman poet Béroul and the Old French poet Thomas of Britain.
One of the earliest known historical figures with the name Tristan was Tristan de Casteljaloux, a French knight who lived in the 13th century and fought in the Albigensian Crusade. Another notable figure was Tristan l'Hermite, a 17th-century French playwright and poet born in 1601 and known for his tragedies and lyric poetry.
In the 19th century, the name Tristan gained popularity in literature and music. The German composer Richard Wagner wrote the opera "Tristan und Isolde" in 1865, based on the medieval legend. This work is considered one of the most significant masterpieces of the Romantic era in music.
One of the most famous people with the name Tristan was the French writer Tristan Tzara (1896-1963), a founder of the Dada movement and a prominent figure in avant-garde literature. Another notable figure was the English poet Tristan Corbière (1845-1875), known for his maritime-themed works and influence on the Symbolist movement.
In the 20th century, the name Tristan was further popularized by the American actor Tristan Rogers, best known for his role as Robert Scorpio on the soap opera "General Hospital." Other notable individuals with the name include Tristan Tzara (1896-1963), the French avant-garde poet and essayist, and Tristan Murail (born 1947), a French composer and writer on music theory.
While the name Trysten is a more modern variant, it retains the historical and cultural significance of its roots in the Celtic tradition and the enduring legend of Tristan and Iseult.
People
Trysten + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Trysten 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
Trysten: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Trysten?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,673 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Trysten 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 204,874 US residents.
Is Trysten a common name?
We classify Trysten as "Rare". It ranks above 92.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,695 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Trysten most popular?
The single biggest year for Trysten was 2006, when 95 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Trysten is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Trysten in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,436 people with the name Trysten, or 0.48 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,601 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Trysten in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Trysten?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Trysten on both sides of the split. Of the 1,437 people counted with this name, 1,149 were male (80.0%) and 288 were female (20.0%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Trysten?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Trysten is White at 66.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (10.8%) and Two or More Races (10.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Trysten most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Trysten in the 2020 Census, accounting for 66.6% (957 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
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 Trysten in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Trysten a male name?
Yes, 83.2% of people registered as Trysten 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 Trysten still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Trysten 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 Trysten 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.
How many people have the name Trysten?
See how many people share the name Trysten on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.