Ayden
A masculine name of Celtic origin meaning "little fire".
Name Census estimates that about 89,444 living Americans carry the first name Ayden. It sits at #212 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. It is a predominantly male name (97.3% of registrations). The average person named Ayden today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ayden births was 2012 (6,348 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ayden. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Ayden with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Ayden is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 2,428 girls registered with the name since 1880.
- • Ayden is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 14 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
89K
~ 1 in 3,832 Americans
Peak year
2012
6,348 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#212
Tracked since 1990
Census
Ayden in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 65,631 people with the first name Ayden, which placed it at #765 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#765
National first-name rank
People counted
66K
65,631 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
21.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
46.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ayden
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ayden is White at 46.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (23.7%) and Black (18.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Ayden described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Ayden at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White46.7% · 30,673
- Hispanic or Latino23.7% · 15,559
- Black or African American18.8% · 12,348
- Two or more races6.8% · 4,454
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.1% · 2,044
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 553
Gender
Gender distribution for Ayden
Ayden leans heavily male at 97.3% of total registrations, but 2,428 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Ayden as a male name
- Ranked #212 in 2024
- 1,678 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2012 (6,233 births)
Ayden as a female name
- Ranked #4,380 in 2024
- 32 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2008 (210 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ayden leans strongly male. 63,483 people counted with this name were male (96.7%), compared with 2,145 female bearers (3.3%).
Popularity
Ayden: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ayden from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 50,483 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ayden by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Ayden during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Aydens live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. Texas, California, Florida recorded the most babies named Ayden, while Vermont, Wyoming, Alaska recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 1,734 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ayden
The name Ayden is a modern English variant of the traditional Hebrew name Aidan or Aden. It is believed to have originated from the Gaelic word "aodh," which means "fire" or "bravery." The name gained popularity in the early 21st century, particularly in the United States and the United Kingdom.
While the name Ayden does not have a long historical lineage, its roots can be traced back to ancient Celtic cultures. The name Aidan was quite common among Irish and Scottish communities, and it was often associated with notable figures from the early Christian era. One of the earliest recorded examples is Saint Aidan of Lindisfarne, who lived in the 7th century and played a crucial role in spreading Christianity in Northumbria, England.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Aidan was frequently used in various regions of the British Isles. In the 12th century, a Scottish king named Aidan mac Gabrain ruled over the Kingdom of Dalriada, which encompassed parts of modern-day Scotland and Northern Ireland. Another notable figure was Aidan of Ferns, an Irish monk and bishop who lived in the 7th century and established several monasteries in Ireland.
As the name evolved, it took on different spellings and variations across different cultures and languages. In the 19th century, the spelling "Aden" became more common, particularly in English-speaking countries. One famous bearer of this name was Sir Aden Forster, a British politician and diplomat who served as the Governor of New South Wales in the early 19th century.
The modern spelling "Ayden" emerged in the late 20th century and gained significant popularity in the early 2000s. While the name does not have a long historical record, it has been embraced by parents seeking unique and contemporary names for their children. Some notable individuals who carry the name Ayden include Ayden Tanner, an American child actor known for his roles in television shows and movies, and Ayden Mayeri, an American professional soccer player.
It is worth noting that the name Ayden has been particularly popular in certain regions of the United States, such as the Southern states and the Midwest, where it has been among the top 100 baby names for boys in recent years.
People
Ayden + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ayden as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Ayden: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ayden?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 89,444 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ayden going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 3,832 US residents.
Is Ayden a common name?
We classify Ayden as "Uncommon". It ranks above 99.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 90,229 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ayden most popular?
The single biggest year for Ayden was 2012, when 6,348 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ayden is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ayden in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 65,631 people with the name Ayden, or 21.73 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #765 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Ayden in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Ayden?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ayden leans strongly male. 63,483 people counted with this name were male (96.7%), compared with 2,145 female bearers (3.3%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Ayden?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ayden is White at 46.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (23.7%) and Black (18.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Ayden most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ayden in the 2020 Census, accounting for 46.7% (30,673 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Ayden in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ayden a male name?
Yes, 97.3% of people registered as Ayden in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Ayden still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ayden in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Ayden can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people share the name Ayden?
Want to know how many people share the name Ayden? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.