Zayden
A masculine name of uncertain origin, possibly a variant of Zayn.
Name Census estimates that about 30,520 living Americans carry the first name Zayden. It sits at #202 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. It is a predominantly male name (99.4% of registrations). The average person named Zayden today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Zayden births was 2014 (2,245 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Zayden. 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 Zayden with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Zayden is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 181 girls registered with the name since 1880.
- • Zayden is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 9 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
31K
~ 1 in 11,230 Americans
Peak year
2014
2,245 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2024 SSA rank
#202
Tracked since 2000
Census
Zayden in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 16,856 people with the first name Zayden, which placed it at #1,778 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
#1,778
National first-name rank
People counted
17K
16,856 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
5.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
40.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Zayden
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zayden is White at 40.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (22.2%) and Black (21.5%). 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 Zayden 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 Zayden at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White40.4% · 6,810
- Hispanic or Latino22.2% · 3,744
- Black or African American21.5% · 3,620
- Two or more races12.0% · 2,015
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.4% · 398
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.6% · 269
Gender
Gender distribution for Zayden
Out of the 30,748 babies given the name Zayden since 1880, 99.4% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Zayden as a male name
- Ranked #202 in 2024
- 1,741 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2014 (2,231 births)
Zayden as a female name
- Ranked #17,604 in 2024
- 5 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2015 (19 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Zayden leans strongly male. 16,691 people counted with this name were male (99.0%), compared with 171 female bearers (1.0%).
Popularity
Zayden: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Zayden from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 18,679 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Zayden remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Zayden 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 Zayden during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Zaydens live
The SSA's state-level files cover 50 states and territories. Texas, California, Florida recorded the most babies named Zayden, while New Hampshire, Alaska, Maine recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 598 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Zayden
The name Zayden is a relatively modern invention, originating in the late 20th century. Its exact origins are unclear, but it is believed to be a combination of the common English names Zane and Hayden. Some sources suggest it may have roots in the Hebrew name Zayin, meaning "sword" or "weapon," although this connection is tenuous.
While the name Zayden itself does not have a long historical lineage, it is part of a broader trend of creating unique and unconventional names by blending or modifying existing ones. This practice became more prevalent in the United States and other Western countries starting in the 1970s and 1980s.
Due to its recent coinage, there are no known historical figures or recorded instances of the name Zayden prior to the late 20th century. The earliest documented uses of the name likely date back to the 1990s or early 2000s, as it gained popularity among parents seeking distinctive names for their children.
As the name is relatively new, there are few notable individuals throughout history who have borne the name Zayden. However, here are a few examples of people who have been given this name in recent decades:
1. Zayden Vasquez, an American child actor known for his role in the TV series "The Thundermans."
2. Zayden Mayfield, an American singer and songwriter who competed on the reality show "The X Factor" in 2012.
3. Zayden Hanks, a professional skateboarder from the United States.
4. Zayden Montes, an American mixed martial artist and former collegiate wrestler.
5. Zayden Kroll, a Canadian YouTuber and social media personality.
While the name Zayden may lack a deep historical legacy, it reflects the modern trend of creativity and individuality in baby naming. As a relatively new name, its popularity and cultural significance will likely continue to evolve in the coming years.
People
Zayden + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Zayden as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with Z
Other first names starting with Z with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Zayden: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Zayden?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 30,520 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Zayden 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 11,230 US residents.
Is Zayden a common name?
We classify Zayden as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 30,748 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Zayden most popular?
The single biggest year for Zayden was 2014, when 2,245 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Zayden is about 9 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Zayden in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 16,856 people with the name Zayden, or 5.58 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,778 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 Zayden 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 Zayden?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Zayden leans strongly male. 16,691 people counted with this name were male (99.0%), compared with 171 female bearers (1.0%). 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 Zayden?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zayden is White at 40.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (22.2%) and Black (21.5%). 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 Zayden most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Zayden in the 2020 Census, accounting for 40.4% (6,810 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 Zayden in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Zayden a male name?
Yes, 99.4% of people registered as Zayden 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 Zayden still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Zayden 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 Zayden 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 Zayden?
Want to know how many Americans are named Zayden? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.