Tristian is a variant of Tristan, shaped by the look of Christian, and shares its origin in the Celtic Drystan, which is usually explained as "tumult" or "riot"; medieval storytellers linked it to the French triste, "sad", to fit the tragic romance of Tristan and Isolde. This spelling ranked number 728 in 2000, peaked at number 652 in 2011, left the top 1000 in 2020 and stands at number 1518 in 2025.