Given name · also Danish
Torben
“thor's bear”
Torben is a variant of Thorburn. One interpretation is “thor's bear.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
Torben is a variant of Thorburn. One interpretation is “thor's bear.”
Explained through its name family
Where it comes from
Torben comes from Danish, and ultimately from Old Norse.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
How it developed
From Danish Torben, from Old Danish Thorbern, from Old Norse Þórbiǫrn; its root is Proto-Indo-European *(s)tenh₂-.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1968. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Torben through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 431
- 431 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 2025
- 35 babies
- 2025
- 35
- #3,373 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +22%
- Rising
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 35 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 3,373 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 21.7% higher in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 500 as a first name in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Torben’s family of names
In German usage, Torben has a diminutive in Torbi. In Norwegian Bokmål usage, Torben shares a linguistic root with the Swedish form Torbjörn. In Norwegian Bokmål usage, Torben has an alternative spelling in THORBEN.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Torben has relatives in 7 languages. Lines run from its Old Norse roots to each of them.
9 related names in 7 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 6
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 4
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Torben
- Torben UlrichDanish tennis player, jazz musician, filmmaker and writer (1928–2023)
- Torben GraelBrazilian sailorborn 1960
- Torben PiechnikDanish footballerborn 1963
- Torben JohannesenGerman rowerborn 1994
- Torben FrankDanish footballerborn 1968
- Torben LiebrechtGerman actor and screenwriterborn 1977
- Torben LundDanish politicianborn 1950
- Torben Meyeractor (1884-1975)
- Torben GrutSwedish architect (1871–1945)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Torben, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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