Tristram

Boys' name

Riot, through Tristan

Tristram has been given to 114 babies in the U.S. since 1958. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 1987, with 10 recorded.

Babies named Tristram, 2009

1 in 546,000

Tristram over time, 1880–2025

Boys

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Tristram: meaning, origin, and history

Riot, through Tristan

Celtic languages

What Tristram means

Tristram belongs to the name family reached through Tristram → Tristan. Its meaning is “riot”.

Origin, language, and formation

Tristram is used in English. Its origins include Celtic languages.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Tristan.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Tristram is pronounced /ˈtɹɪstɹəm/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 114 boys were recorded with the name Tristram between 1958 and 2009. Its highest annual count was 10 in 1987; its best national rank was #3,297 in 1969.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Tristram?

Tristram had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 2009, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 2009: 1 in 546,000; 7 of 3,820,315 births
Among boys only: 1 in 283,000; <0.01% of boys
Rank, 2009: Unranked; Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size: 378,293 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Tristram sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2009 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%

Class of 30Under 1%

Grade of 100Under 1%

School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 378,293 children born in 2009 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Tristram. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Tristrams were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Tristram was born before 1982 — so the typical Tristram is around 43 today.

Median birth year: 1982; About 43 years old
Biggest decade: 1980s; 32.5% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 44.7%; Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950: 114; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

1980s — 32.5% of all recorded uses (37).

Is Tristram rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago: —; Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago: New entry; Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago: —; Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago: —; Not published both years
Share of its own peak: 0%; Peak was 1987 (10)
Years since peak: 38; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Volatile; 47.3% average annual change
Best rank ever: #3,297; 1969

Spellings of Tristram

Tristram is not the most common spelling — Tristan is, with 93.9% against Tristram's 0.09%.

Tristan93.9%124,243
Tristian6.0%7,960
Tristram0.09%114

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Tristram around the world

Where Tristram ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

England & Wales
1996–2018
#4,749
in 2018
South Australia
1971–1997
#543
in 1997

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Tristram by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025: Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: —
Best rank ever: #3,297; 1969
Peak year: 1987; 10 that year
First recorded: 1958
Last recorded: 2009
All-time count: 114
Count in 2025: Under 5

Names similar to Tristram

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

Trillion Triumph Adoniram Trigger Trimaine Trinten Trindon Abhayram Tristion Trishaan Shahram Tristain Tripton Trishiv Tritt Trintin Wolfram Tricia Trippton Trisden Trinidy Trishan Tripper Trisha

Sibling names for Tristram

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

For a sister

Shantell Janay Ashely Kassie Anthony Kyle Cody Domonique

For a brother

Derik Derrell Darell Whitney Shea Elizabeth Kelsey Garrick

Explore around Tristram

Top names of 1987, Tristram's peak year The 1980s in full Other names that peaked in 1969 Boys' names starting with T Arthurian Names