Tristan
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name from the Celtic languages. 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".
Source: Wiktionary, English entry for Tristan (CC BY-SA 4.0). This is the origin of the name in English; families in Sweden may have taken it from another language.
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Tristan has been falling over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2009. 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 | 11 |
| 2001 | – |
| 2002 | 19 |
| 2003 | 26 |
| 2004 | 39 |
| 2005 | 45 |
| 2006 | 46 |
| 2007 | 69 |
| 2008 | 62 |
| 2009 | 84 |
| 2010 | 78 |
| 2011 | 73 |
| 2012 | 57 |
| 2013 | 57 |
| 2014 | 73 |
| 2015 | 74 |
| 2016 | 73 |
| 2017 | 69 |
| 2018 | 79 |
| 2019 | 65 |
| 2020 | 58 |
| 2021 | 49 |
| 2022 | 45 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Men and boys |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 50 |
| 2000 | 65 |
| 2001 | 74 |
| 2002 | 94 |
| 2003 | 113 |
| 2004 | 153 |
| 2005 | 201 |
| 2006 | 254 |
| 2007 | 324 |
| 2008 | 382 |
| 2009 | 465 |
| 2010 | 548 |
| 2011 | 630 |
| 2012 | 695 |
| 2013 | 750 |
| 2014 | 823 |
| 2015 | 898 |
| 2016 | 972 |
| 2017 | 1,056 |
| 2018 | 1,159 |
| 2019 | 1,229 |
| 2020 | 1,279 |
Tristan in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Tristan.Hi! My name is Tristan.
- Har du träffat Tristan? Han började jobba här i måndags.Have you met Tristan? He started working here on Monday.
- Vet du om Tristan kommer på festen på lördag?Do you know if Tristan is coming to the party on Saturday?
- Tristans mamma är lärare.Tristan's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Tristans mamma is Tristan's mum.
More names
Questions about Tristan
How do you pronounce Tristan in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Tristan in your device's Swedish voice.
What does the name Tristan mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name from the Celtic languages. 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 Tristan in Sweden?
45 babies were named Tristan in 2022. In 2020, 1,279 people in Sweden had Tristan as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been falling lately and peaked in 2009 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.