boy's name
Torin
TOR-in
- Origin Norse
- Gender Boy
- Letters 5
- Popularity Uncommon
- Births on record 7,137
Northern Ireland
#198
2024 births
Torin is a boy's name widely listed as Irish meaning chief, but it has no attested Old Irish source and a Norse derivation is at least as likely. It ranks 198th in Northern Ireland and is rising across six markets.
- Torin is a name of Norse origin.
- Peaked in 2018, when 220 babies were given the name.
- It has been rising over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 22,864 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1956.
Torin over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1950s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1950s | 40 |
| 1960s | 177 |
| 1970s | 222 |
| 1980s | 309 |
| 1990s | 772 |
| 2000s | 1,267 |
| 2010s | 1,663 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 1,023 |
What Torin means
Torin is usually given as chief. That meaning is not supported by any documented Irish word, and the name may instead be a shortening of a Norse name built on the god Thor.
Where Torin comes from
Torin is one of the names whose stated meaning is repeated far more confidently than the evidence supports. Name references almost uniformly give it as Irish for chief, but no Old or Modern Irish word matching it in that sense has been identified, and the name does not appear in Irish annals or genealogies. The likelier account is Norse: Thorfinn, Thorinn and related names built on the god Thor were carried into Ireland and the Scottish isles by Norse settlement, and Torin fits that family in both form and distribution. Tolkien's use of Thorin for a dwarf king in The Hobbit draws on the same Old Norse source list, which is a separate borrowing rather than an influence on the Irish claim.
Torin in use
Torin ranks 198th in Northern Ireland on 11 births, 394th in Scotland, 462nd in Ireland, 891st in England and Wales and 1350th in the United States on 145. It peaked in 2018, when 220 babies were registered in its largest market, and is rising in our data. Our records carry it from 1956 across 7,137 lifetime births, with the strongest concentration in the Irish and Scottish markets where Norse settlement was heaviest.
How popular is Torin?
In 2025, Torin was given to 145 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Where Torin is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Torin
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Torin also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Torin over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
1 nickname for Torin
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Torin in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Torin
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Torin — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Torin
What does the name Torin mean?
It is usually given as chief, but no Irish word supports that. A Norse origin from the Thor names is more likely.
Is Torin an Irish name?
It is widely listed as Irish, but it does not appear in Irish annals or genealogies and no Irish source word has been identified.
Is Torin the same as Thorin from The Hobbit?
They draw on the same Old Norse name list. Tolkien took his from a medieval Icelandic poem; the two borrowings are separate.
How popular is Torin?
198th in Northern Ireland and rising, with 6,571 recorded births across five markets.
Is Torin a girl's or a boy's name?
Torin is given almost entirely to boys in birth records.
What are the nicknames for Torin?
Torin is usually shortened to Tor.
Is Torin a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Torin currently ranks #198 in the United States. It has been rising over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.