Home

Thorstein

Thorstein is a masculine given name of Old Norse origin. It is formed from the elements Thor, the god of thunder, and steinn, meaning "stone." The name has been used across the Nordic countries since the Viking Age and remains in use among speakers of Icelandic, Norwegian, Danish, and Swedish, often in slightly different spellings.

Variants include Torsten, Thorsten, Thorsen, and other local spellings. In German-speaking areas Thorsten is common; in

Historically, Thorstein appears in Icelandic sagas as a given name for several characters, reflecting its broad

Notable people with the name include Thorstein Bunde Veblen (1857–1929), an American economist and sociologist who

The name Thorstein remains in use today, though its popularity varies by country and generation.

Sweden
the
form
Torsten
is
widely
used.
medieval
usage
in
Scandinavia.
It
continues
as
a
name
of
Nordic
heritage
in
contemporary
times,
especially
in
Scandinavia
and
among
diaspora
communities
in
North
America.
popularized
the
concept
of
conspicuous
consumption
and
wrote
The
Theory
of
the
Leisure
Class
(1899).