Torsten
Meaning and origin
Old Norse Þorsteinn, the root of English Thurstan, from Þórr (“Thor”) + steinn (“stone”), the elements having transitioned to the modern Swedish forms, Tor and sten.
Source: Wiktionary, Swedish entry for Torsten (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Torsten has been fairly steady over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2017. The figures are for this exact spelling; other spellings of the name are counted on their own.
Years with fewer than two babies (fewer than ten before 2004) show as zero in the chart and as – in the table.
Show the figures
| Year | Boys |
|---|---|
| 1998 | – |
| 1999 | – |
| 2000 | – |
| 2001 | – |
| 2002 | – |
| 2003 | – |
| 2004 | 5 |
| 2005 | 6 |
| 2006 | 7 |
| 2007 | 5 |
| 2008 | 7 |
| 2009 | 8 |
| 2010 | 8 |
| 2011 | 8 |
| 2012 | 11 |
| 2013 | 11 |
| 2014 | 18 |
| 2015 | 13 |
| 2016 | 10 |
| 2017 | 20 |
| 2018 | 10 |
| 2019 | 12 |
| 2020 | 13 |
| 2021 | 15 |
| 2022 | 9 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Men and boys |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 7,873 |
| 2000 | 7,620 |
| 2001 | 7,398 |
| 2002 | 7,159 |
| 2003 | 6,960 |
| 2004 | 6,769 |
| 2005 | 6,531 |
| 2006 | 6,294 |
| 2007 | 6,058 |
| 2008 | 5,831 |
| 2009 | 5,599 |
| 2010 | 5,405 |
| 2011 | 5,182 |
| 2012 | 4,974 |
| 2013 | 4,757 |
| 2014 | 4,555 |
| 2015 | 4,374 |
| 2016 | 4,217 |
| 2017 | 4,030 |
| 2018 | 3,850 |
| 2019 | 3,699 |
| 2020 | 3,540 |
Torsten in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Torsten.Hi! My name is Torsten.
- Har du träffat Torsten? Han började jobba här i måndags.Have you met Torsten? He started working here on Monday.
- Jag ska fika med Torsten i eftermiddag.I'm having coffee with Torsten this afternoon.
- Torstens mamma är lärare.Torsten's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Torstens mamma is Torsten's mum.
More names
Questions about Torsten
How do you pronounce Torsten in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Torsten in your device's Swedish voice.
What does the name Torsten mean?
Old Norse Þorsteinn, the root of English Thurstan, from Þórr (“Thor”) + steinn (“stone”), the elements having transitioned to the modern Swedish forms, Tor and sten.
How popular is Torsten in Sweden?
9 babies were named Torsten in 2022. In 2020, 3,540 people in Sweden had Torsten as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been fairly steady lately and peaked in 2017 in the years SCB covers (1998–2022).
Popularity figures: Statistics Sweden (SCB), name statistics (BE0001) from the Statistical Database, released as open data under CC0. Each spelling is counted as its own name, as SCB does. SCB's open name statistics end with babies named in 2022 and the population on 31 December 2020; SCB stopped producing name statistics in 2024 and now points to the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) for newer figures.
Origins, IPA and recordings: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), via kaikki.org; recordings from Lingua Libre on Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA). Lingolib is not affiliated with SCB or Wiktionary. Sources last checked 7 October 2026.