Thorsten

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Thorsten is a male name from Scandinavia. Variants include Thorstein, Torstein, and Torsten.

It comes from the Old Norse name Þórsteinn, built from Þór (Thor) and steinn (stone). In Old Danish and Old Swedish, it became Thor and sten. It’s one of several Old Norse names that use the god Thor. Many of these names aren’t common today, but some parts of the group did survive.

There are medieval Icelandic examples, such as Þorsteinn rauður Ólafsson (ca. 850–880) and Þórsteinn Eiríksson (late 10th century), and it appears in literature like Draumr Þorsteins Síðu-Hallssonar.

The Old English form is Thurstan. After the Norman conquest, Thurstan was the name of church leaders, including an archbishop of York (died 1140) and abbots of Pershore (1080s) and Glastonbury (1090s). The surname Thurston likely comes from this given name. The English given name Dustin also comes from a surname that originated from the Norman name Tustin and its variants (Turstin, Tostain, Toutain), all ultimately from Þorsteinn.

Today, Thorsten and Torsten are still used in English-speaking and German-speaking countries.