Given name
Torsten
“from Thor's town; Thor's stone”
Torsten is a variant of Thurston. One English interpretation is “from Thor's town; Thor's stone.”
Original Old NorseÞorsteinn
Meaning & origin
What it means
Torsten is a variant of Thurston. One English interpretation is “from Thor's town; Thor's stone.”
Explained through its name family
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Old Norse.
How it developed
In Swedish usage, Torsten developed from Þorsteinn.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1962. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Torsten through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 705
- 705 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 2009
- 33 babies
- 2025
- 14
- #6,415 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −19%
- Easing
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 14 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 6,415 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 19.2% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 33 in 2009. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 953 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.
Torsten’s family of names
Torsten shares a linguistic root with Torstein. Torsten has a related form in Thurston. In German usage, Torsten has a related form in Thorsten.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Torsten has relatives in 4 languages. Lines run from its Old Norse roots to each of them.
Old Norsewhere Torsten comes from · 1 name
Nicknames & forms 3
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 5
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
See also 1
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Torsten
- Torsten FringsGerman association football player and managerborn 1976
- Torsten WieselSwedish neuroscientistborn 1924
- Torsten HägerstrandSwedish geographer, inventor of time geography (1916–2004)
- Torsten LindbergSwedish footballer and manager (1917–2009)
- Torsten PalmSwedish racing driverborn 1947
- Lennart SamuelssonSwedish footballer and manager (1924-2012)
- Torsten VossEast German bobsledderborn 1963
- Torsten Mayboxerborn 1969
- Torsten JansenGerman handball playerborn 1976
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Appears in
Similar names
If you love Torsten, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Torben
“thor's bear”
>99% boys
Sixten
“victory”
>99% boys
Sven
“a youthful man; a lad”
>99% boys
Halsten
“a stylish woman” · “from the manor on the hill”
83% boys · 17% girls
Cobain
Cobain is a surname from Old Norse.
>99% boys
Eivin
“luck, good fortune” · “victor, victorious lord”
>99% boys
Eriksson
“son of Erik”
>99% boys
Eyvin
“luck, good fortune” · “victor, victorious lord”
>99% boys