Grayden
A name of English origin meaning "gray valley" or "green hill".
Name Census estimates that about 2,090 living Americans carry the first name Grayden. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Grayden today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Grayden births was 2008 (146 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Grayden. 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.
Key insights
- • Grayden 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
2.1K
~ 1 in 163,997 Americans
Peak year
2008
146 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,674
Tracked since 1918
Census
Grayden in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,831 people with the first name Grayden, which placed it at #8,042 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
#8,042
National first-name rank
People counted
1.8K
1,831 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
88.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Grayden
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Grayden is White at 88.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.9%) and Hispanic (3.9%). 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 Grayden 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 Grayden at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White88.5% · 1,621
- Two or more races4.9% · 89
- Hispanic or Latino3.9% · 72
- Black or African American1.1% · 21
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 15
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 13
Popularity
Grayden: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Grayden from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,030 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
Grayden 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 Grayden during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Graydens live
The SSA's state-level files cover 26 states and territories. Ohio, California, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Grayden, while South Dakota, Kentucky, Arizona recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 27 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Grayden
The given name Grayden is a modern English name that emerged in the late 20th century. It is derived from the Old English word "graeg," meaning "gray," and the suffix "-den," which often denotes a valley or a location. Therefore, the name Grayden can be loosely interpreted as "the gray valley" or "one who dwells in the gray valley."
While the name itself is relatively new, its roots can be traced back to the Anglo-Saxon era in Britain. The Old English language, which was spoken by the Germanic tribes that settled in Britain after the Roman era, contributed significantly to the development of modern English. Many place names and surnames in England still bear traces of Old English words, including those related to colors and topographical features.
There are no known historical references or ancient texts that directly mention the name Grayden. However, given its Old English origins, it is possible that the name was used informally or as a nickname in some parts of England during the Middle Ages.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Grayden can be found in the late 19th century. Grayden Trampier (1872-1949), an American banker and businessman, was born in Ohio in 1872. He later became the president of the First National Bank of Cincinnati.
Another notable figure with the name Grayden was Grayden Paul (1903-1976), an American football player and coach. He played for the University of Illinois and later coached at several colleges, including the University of New Hampshire and the University of Maine.
In the literary world, Grayden Houstoun (1920-2000) was a Canadian author and journalist. He wrote several novels and non-fiction works, including "The Reticence of Lady Anne" and "Rogue Male: A Portrait of Braddon Boxill."
Grayden Saunders (1934-2007) was a British actor and playwright. He appeared in numerous television shows and films, such as "The Saint" and "Doctor Who." Saunders also wrote several plays, including "The Visitor" and "The Kindness of Strangers."
Grayden Caldwell (1954-2015) was an American baseball player who played for several teams in Major League Baseball, including the Cincinnati Reds and the Houston Astros. He was a catcher and played in the league from 1977 to 1985.
While the name Grayden is relatively uncommon, its unique blend of Old English elements and modern sensibilities has contributed to its growing popularity in recent decades.
People
Grayden + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Grayden as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with G
Other first names starting with G with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Grayden: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Grayden?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,090 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Grayden 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 163,997 US residents.
Is Grayden a common name?
We classify Grayden as "Rare". It ranks above 93.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,125 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Grayden most popular?
The single biggest year for Grayden was 2008, when 146 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Grayden 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 Grayden in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,831 people with the name Grayden, or 0.61 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,042 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 Grayden 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 Grayden?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Grayden appears almost entirely male. Of the 1,820 people counted with this name, 99.6% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Grayden?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Grayden is White at 88.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.9%) and Hispanic (3.9%). 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 Grayden most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Grayden in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.5% (1,621 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 Grayden in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Grayden a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Grayden 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 Grayden still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Grayden 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 Grayden 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 Grayden?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.