Boys' name · peaked in 1996
Tristan name popularity since 1925
130,794 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Tristan (5.0% girls, 95.0% boys). Half of them were born in 2007 or earlier, so the typical Tristan is about 19 years old in 2026. Tristan peaked in 1996 as the #68 name for boys, and it ranked #309 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 130,794
- Named Tristan, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- #309
- for boys in 2025 (1,103 babies)
- Girls / boys
- 95.0% boys
- 6,551 girls · 124,243 boys
- Most popular in
- Alaska
- 2.98× its national share
Peak year is the year Tristan made up the largest share of US boys, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Tristan births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year by count was 2008. Measured as a share of all babies, Tristan peaked in 1996.
- Fastest rise: Between 1991 and 1996, Tristan became 8× more common, from 1 in 2,790 baby boys to 1 in 347.
- Steepest fall: Between 2018 and 2023, its share of baby boys fell by 55%, from 1 in 562 to 1 in 1,240.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Tristan's share of all US boys five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Tristan.
Decade by decade
Babies named Tristan in each decade, and its rank among boys' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 1930s | 0 | 0 | Under 5 |
| 1940s | 0 | 19 | Under 5 |
| 1950s | 0 | 89 | #2,954 |
| 1960s | 77 | 272 | #1,719 |
| 1970s | 307 | 1,037 | #782 |
| 1980s | 1,388 | 7,582 | #222 |
| 1990s | 1,943 | 23,915 | #121 |
| 2000s | 1,978 | 43,300 | #113 |
| 2010s | 698 | 38,693 | #101 |
| 2020–25 | 160 | 9,336 | #309 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 boys that year, so they can go past 1,000. "Under 5" means fewer than 5 boys got the name.
Generation fingerprint
55.5% of babies named Tristan from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Gen Z years (1997–2012). The full split by generation:
Where Tristan is most popular
The index compares Tristan's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Tristan.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Alaska | 2.98× | 566 |
| Nevada | 2.40× | 1,096 |
| Idaho | 1.76× | 894 |
| Montana | 1.72× | 642 |
| Washington | 1.68× | 3,584 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Tristan and were given to at least 1,000 boys from 1925 to 2025, with the year each one was most popular.
| Spelling | Boys | Peak year |
|---|---|---|
| Tristan (this page) | 124,243 | 1996 |
| Tristen | 21,372 | 1996 |
| Triston | 11,602 | 1996 |
| Tristin | 9,785 | 1996 |
| Tristian | 7,960 | 2011 |
| Trystan | 4,509 | 2010 |
| Tristyn | 2,244 | 2010 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Tristan's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Tristan.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Tristan (1996).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data