Meanings
plural Tristans
- countableuncountableA male given name from the Celtic languages.
After the first son had been properly named after the grandfather, the second caught the brunt of her few impulses, being named "Tristan", gleaned from medieval lore from her years at Wellesley.
1978, Jim Harrison, Legends of the Fall, Dell, published 1994, →ISBN, page 2011 more example
'His name is Tristan, by the way.' 'Tristan?' 'Yes. Oh, I should have told you. You must have wondered about my own queer name. It was my father. Great Wagnerian. It nearly ruled his life. It was music all the time – mainly Wagner.'
2012 May 17, James Herriot, All Creatures Great and Small: The Classic Memoirs of a Yorkshire Country Vet, Pan Macmillan, →ISBN - countableuncountableA knight of the Round Table in Arthurian legend
- countableuncountableA female given name.
Synonyms & antonyms
proper nounEllipsis of Tristan da Cunha.
Origin
Old French, the name of a knight, lover of Iseult in medieval romance Tristan and Iseult, from Celtic Drystan derived from drest meaning "riot" or "tumult".
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Mandarin 特里斯坦
- 特里斯坦 (Tèlǐsītǎn)male given name
Dutch Tristan
- Tristanmale given name
French Tristan
- Tristanmale given name
German Tristan
- Tristanmale given name
Greek Τριστάνος
- Τριστάνος (Tristános)male given name
Icelandic Tristan
- Tristanmale given name
Italian Tristano
- Tristanomale given name
Polish Tristan
- Tristanmale given name
Portuguese Tristão
- Tristãomale given name
Russian Триста́н
- Триста́н (Tristán)male given name
Spanish Tristán
- Tristánmale given name
Welsh Trystan
- Trystanmale given name
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with Tristan
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
Tristan. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Tristan
“Tristan.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Tristan. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Tristan,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Tristan.
Source: Tristan on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.