Thorsten
Thorsten is a Scandinavian given name. The Old Norse name was Þórsteinn. It is a compound of the theonym Þór and steinn "stone", which became Thor and sten in Old Danish and Old Swedish.
The name is one of a group of Old Norse names containing the theonym Thor, besides other such as Þórarin, Þórhall, Þórkell, Þórfinnr, Þórvald, Þórvarðr, Þórolf, most of which, however, do not survive as modern names given with any frequency.
The name is attested in medieval Iceland, e.g. Þorsteinn rauður Ólafsson, Þórsteinn Eiríksson, and in literature such as Draumr Þorsteins Síðu-Hallssonar.
The Old English equivalent of the Scandinavian and Norman name is Thurstan, attested after the Norman conquest of England in the 11th century as the name of a medieval archbishop of York, of an abbot of Pershore and of an abbot of Glastonbury.
The English surname Thurston is presumably derived from this given name.
The English given name Dustin is derived from a surname which in origin has been derived in turn from the Norman name Tustin, variant form of Turstin, Tostain, Toutain, etc. themselves from Old Norse given name Þorsteinn.
As a modern given name, Thorsten and Torsten also see some popularity in the English-speaking world and in German-speaking Europe.
People with this name include:
Arts and entertainment
- Torstein Aagaard-Nilsen, Norwegian composer
- Torsten Amft, German fashion designer
- Torstein Flakne, the founder of the Norwegian band Stage Dolls
- Thorsten Flinck, Swedish musician
- Thorsten Owusu Gyimah, Ghanaian drill rapper known as Yaw Tog
- Thorsten Kaye, American-based actor
- Torstein Lofthus, Norwegian drummer
- Thorsten Quaeschning, German musician of the band Tangerine Dream
- Torsten Wasastjerna, Finnish artist
Politics
- Torsten Bell, British politician
- Torstein Børte, Norwegian politician
- Torsten Brandel, Swedish diplomat
- Torsten Burmester, German politician
- Torstein Dahle, Norwegian politician and economist
- Thorsten Faas, German political scientist
- Thorsten Guttormsen Fretheim, Norwegian politician
- Thorstein John Ohnstad Fretheim, Norwegian politician
- Torsten Gejl, Danish politician
- Torsten Lindström, Swedish politician
- Torsten Nothin, Swedish politician
- Torstein Olav Kuvaas, Norwegian politician
- Torstein Kvamme, Norwegian politician
- Torstein Rudihagen, Norwegian politician
- Thorsten Schäfer-Gümbel, German politician of the SPD
- Torstein Selvik, Norwegian politician
- Torstein Slungård, Norwegian politician
- Thorsten Svensson, Swedish footballer
- Thorstein Treholt, Norwegian politician
- Torstein Tynning, Norwegian politician
Sports
- Torstein Andersen Aase, Norwegian footballer
- Torsten Abel, German triathlete
- Thorsten Barg, German football player
- Thorsten Becker, German footballer
- Torsten Bréchôt, East German judoka
- Thorsten Burkhardt, German footballer
- Thorsten Dauth, German decathlete
- Thorsten Engelmann, German rower
- Thorsten Fink, German football coach and former player
- Torsten Frings, German footballer
- Thorsten Grönfors, Swedish sailor and tennis player
- Torsten Gütschow, German football striker
- Torstein Hansen, Norwegian handball player
- Thorstein Helstad, Norwegian footballer
- Thorsten Hohmann, German pool player
- Torstein Horgmo, Norwegian snowboarder
- Thorstein Johansen, Norwegian rifle shooter
- Thorsten Kirschbaum, German footballer
- Thorsten Legat, German football coach and retired player
- Thorsten Leibenath, German basketball coach and basketball player
- Torsten Loibl, German basketball coach
- Thorsten Nehrbauer, German footballer
- Thorsten Schmitt, German Nordic combined skier
- Thorsten Schmugge, German footballer
- Thorsten Stuckmann, German football goalkeeper
- Torsten Tegnér, Swedish athlete and journalist
- Thorsten Wittek, German football player
Other fields
- Thorsten Andersson, Swedish toponymist
- Torstein Eckhoff, Norwegian civil servant and professor of law
- Torsten Engberg, Swedish Coastal Artillery lieutenant general
- Þorsteinn Gylfason, Icelandic intellectual
- Torsten Lindh, Swedish Navy rear admiral
- Torstein Moland, Norwegian economist
- Thorsten Nordenfelt, Swedish inventor and industrialist
- Thorsten J. Pattberg, German philologist and cultural critic
- Torstein Raaby, Norwegian telegrapher, resistance fighter and explorer
- Thorsten Sellin, American sociologist, penologist and scientific criminologist
- Thorstein Veblen, Norwegian-American sociologist and economist