UK boy's name
Thorsten
Of Norse origin, meaning "Thor's stone" or "stone of the thunder god".
For 2026, the newest official UK baby-name figures on this page are from 2018. That release is the current official benchmark rather than a forecast.
Thorsten is a boy's name in the UK records. People looking for Thorsten popularity in 2026 should use the latest official release, which is 2018 in this profile. In that release it ranked #4749, with 3 babies registered with the name. Its strongest year in the published records was 2018, with 3 births.
This profile covers 3 England and Wales registrations across 1 recorded years from 2018 to 2018. The figures come from ONS England and Wales, so the page is a view of published baby-name registrations rather than a forecast or a live count of people using the name today.
Thorsten is at its recorded peak in the England and Wales series.
We estimate that about 3 living people in the UK are called Thorsten. This uses published birth registrations from England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, then applies ONS national life tables to estimate how many are likely still alive. It does not forecast extra births for 2019 or 2026.
Key insights
- • Thorsten ranked #4749 for boys in England and Wales in 2018, with 3 registrations.
- • The name peaked in 2018, when 3 boys were registered as Thorsten.
- • About 3 living people in the UK are estimated to have Thorsten as a first name, after adjusting past birth registrations with ONS life tables.
Latest rank (E&W)
#4749
2018
Births in 2018
3
Latest year
Peak year
2018
3 births
Estimated living
3
2026
Meaning
What does Thorsten mean?
The given name Thorsten has its origins in the Old Norse language, which was spoken by the Germanic peoples of Scandinavia and parts of Northern Europe during the Viking Age (8th to 11th centuries). It is derived from the Old Norse words "þórr" meaning "thunder" and "steinn" meaning "stone" or "rock." The name can be interpreted as "Thor's stone" or "stone of Thor," referring to the powerful Norse god of thunder and lightning.
The earliest known mention of the name Thorsten can be traced back to the Icelandic Sagas, which are prose narratives written in Old Norse that recount the stories and traditions of the Norse people. One notable example is the Saga of the Greenlanders, written in the 13th century, which features a character named Thorstein Eiriksson, the son of Erik the Red, the Norse explorer who established the first European settlement in Greenland.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Thorsten was predominantly used in Scandinavia and the areas influenced by Norse culture, such as parts of Germany, the Netherlands, and the British Isles. During this period, several historical figures bore the name Thorsten, including Thorsten Thordsson (c. 1050-1115), a Norwegian chieftain and one of the first settlers of Iceland, and Thorsten Frille (c. 1200-1268), a Danish knight and military commander who played a significant role in the Baltic Crusades.
In the 16th century, the name Thorsten gained popularity in Germanic regions, particularly in Germany and the Low Countries. One notable bearer of the name during this time was Thorsten Vehlen (c. 1490-1539), a German Protestant reformer and one of the early leaders of the Reformation in Strasbourg.
In the 19th century, the name Thorsten gained more widespread use across Europe and beyond. Some notable individuals with this name include Thorsten Nordenfelt (1842-1920), a Swedish inventor and industrialist who developed the first fully automatic machine gun, and Thorsten Veblen (1857-1929), an American economist and sociologist best known for his theory of the leisure class.
Other historical figures with the given name Thorsten include Thorsten Palme (1936-1986), a Swedish politician and the father of Prime Minister Olof Palme, and Thorsten Heins (born 1957), a German business executive who served as the CEO of BlackBerry from 2012 to 2013.
Sourced from namecensus.com.
Decades
Thorsten by decade
Decade totals smooth out the yearly jumps and make it easier to see whether Thorsten was a short-lived spike or a name that stayed in regular use. Average rank is calculated only from years where a published rank exists.
| Decade | Average rank | Total births | Years covered |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | #4749 | 3 | 1 |
Related
Names similar to Thorsten
- Thomas 160,894
- Tyler 42,147
- Theo 40,594
- Toby 32,482
- Theodore 30,211
- Tommy 25,300
- Teddy 20,781
- Taylor 14,354
- Tobias 13,102
- Tom 9,822
- Tristan 9,171
- Timothy 6,200
FAQ
Thorsten: questions and answers
How popular is the name Thorsten in the UK right now?
In 2018, Thorsten was ranked #4749 for boys in England and Wales, with 3 births registered.
When was Thorsten most popular?
The peak year on record was 2018, with 3 babies registered as Thorsten in England and Wales.
What is the meaning and origin of Thorsten?
Of Norse origin, meaning "Thor's stone" or "stone of the thunder god".
How many people are called Thorsten in the UK?
A total of 3 babies have been registered as Thorsten across the 1 years of ONS England & Wales records shown here.
Which records is this page based on?
The England and Wales timeline uses ONS baby-name records. Scotland figures come from NRS and Northern Ireland figures come from NISRA. Counts are registrations in published baby-name files. The living estimate uses those birth registrations with ONS national life tables.