Name of the Week

The hero in one of the most famous romances of all time,
Tristan was strong, brave, handsome and handy with a sword.
As namesakes go, it's a pretty good one. 

 

Origin:

Tristan is the anglicised form of Trystan or Drystan, the Brythonic (Welsh, Cornish and Breton) name of the mythological Cornish hero of the tale of Trystan and Iseult. For centuries the name has erroneously been associated with the French word triste meaning "sad" (perpetuated by the fact that the Cornish word trist also means "sad, mournful") but this is a clear case of homophony. In fact, Tristan can be dated right back to the Picts of the 4th and 5th century. Several pictish kings are recorded with the name Drust (or Drest, Drustan, Drostan and Throstan), the first of whom was said to be a contemporary of Saint Patrick. The move from the Pictish Drust(an) to Brythonic Drystan can be clearly seen in early Welsh literature, where Trystan/Drystan is the son of Tallwch. One of the most famous Pictish kings was a certain Drustan son of Talorc who ruled around 780 AD. Not only are the names (Drustan/Trystan and Talorc/Tallwch) remarkably similar, the legend of Drustan bears many of the same elements as the earlier tales of Tristan. By the 10th century, legends were being told of how Drustan had travelled to the Hebrides and was wounded while rescuing a princess that was about to be given as tribute to three giants. The princess tended to his wounds, but could not tell what he looked like; when others claimed to be her rescuer, she was able to recognise Drustan from the bandage he wore. Much like Isolde with her Tristan. The names Drust(an) and Trystan almost certainly derive from the Proto-Celtic word *trusto­ meaning "noise, cry" — the remnants of which can be found in the Modern Welsh trwst "din, clatter, rumble, tumult" and Cornish tros "noise, clamour, sound."

Usage:

At least three versions of the story of Tristan and Isolde were written in the 12th century, and it is towards the end of that century, as early as 1189, that we find Tristan in use as a given name in Britain. The Anglo-Norman form of the name was Tristram, and it is this variant that is most prevalent in records in England. The form most commonly used in France at the time, however, was Tristan of Tristran. Tristram created the surnames Tristram and Trustram in the 13th century, though the name was never especially common. It continued regular use well into the 15th and 16th century, especially among gentry families. It is particularly interesting to note that many baptism records for Tristram are centred in Cornwall and Devon, or alternatively in Yorkshire.  Tristram remained the most common form of the name up until the 20th century. The spelling Tristan can be seen in baptisms from the 16th century onwards, but didn't manage to over take Tristam until the late 1900s. The name, in either form, however, while used continually, was never particularly common. From 1840 to 1900, Tristram consistently averaged around 5 births every year. Tristan was registered only 7 times through this whole period. UK census records show a similar pattern: 1841 - Tristram: 79, Tristan: 10 1861 - Tristram: 73, Tristan: 3 1881 - Tristram: 96, Tristan: 6 1901 - Tristram: 104, Tristan: 7  1911 - Tristram: 96, Tristan: 12   In 1996, Tristan ranked #141 (250 births) in England and Wales while Tristram was #2357 (4 births). Since then, both names have maintained very consistent use. Tristan was #143 in 1998, #149 in 2000, #161 in 2002, #157 in 2004, #125 (420 births) in 2006, #124 in 2008, #121 in 2010 and #131 (492 births) in 2011.  Tristan is comparatively more popular in Wales than it is in England. When counted seperately, Tristan ranked #96 (37 births) in Wales, and #134 (455 births) in England in 2011. Overall, Tristan has been in Wales' Top 100 (ranking between #91 and #96) in 2006, 2007, 2010 and 2011. In Scotland, Tristan ranked #241 (12 births) in 2005, #237 (15 births) in 2007, #191 (23 births) in 2009, #187 (25 births) in 2011 and #216 (22 births).

Famous Bearers:

History: * St Drostan (fl. 7th century), founder and abbot of the monastery of Old Deer in Aberdeenshire. * Tristán de Luna y Arellano (1519–1571), Spanish Conquistador. * Tristan Corbière (1845–1875), French poet. * Tristan Tzara (1896–1963), Romanian poet.  Contemporary: * Tristan Wilds (b. 1989), American actor. Literature and Other Media: * Tristan und Isolde (1857–59), an opera by Richard Wagner. * Tristan le Roux (1850), a novel by Alexandre Dumas.  Other: * Tristan da Cunha, a group of islands in the south Atlantic Ocean. * Tristan Island, a small island off the coast of Brittany.

Variants:

Tristram, Trystan, Tristen, Triston, Tristian

Pronunciation:

TRIS-tən [key]

Possible Diminutives:

Stan, Tris, Trick, Trip

Sibling Names:

Felicity     Violet     Lydia     Imogen     Verity     Maeve  Sebastian     Maxim     Jasper     Felix     Dominic     Roman

Name Lists:

Upright Elegance    Demi-Gods and Mortals of Mythology    Operatic Appellations

 

If you like Tristan you may also like:   Julian, Lucian, Alexander, Finnian, Crispin, Oliver, Tobin, Quentin, Adrian, Maxwell

 

Thanks to Rachael for requesting Tristan.