boy's name
Brayden
BRAY-den
- Origin Irish
- Gender Boy
- Letters 7
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 152,031
the United States
#229
2025 births
Brayden is a modern American invention with a real Irish surname behind it, and it peaked in 2010 — one of the latest peaks on this site. Our records carry it only from 1970.
- Brayden is a name of Irish origin.
- Peaked in 2010, when 9,168 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 2,146 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1970.
Brayden over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1970s 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 |
|---|---|
| 1970s | 50 |
| 1980s | 318 |
| 1990s | 5,450 |
| 2000s | 50,979 |
| 2010s | 66,270 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 14,539 |
What Brayden means
Brayden means descendant of Bradán, an Irish byname meaning a salmon. The broad valley reading widely given for it belongs instead to the separate English surname Braden.
Where Brayden comes from
Brayden respells Braden, which anglicizes the Irish Ó Bradáin — descendant of Bradán, a personal name meaning a salmon. The salmon is not incidental in Irish tradition: the Salmon of Knowledge that Fionn mac Cumhaill burns his thumb on is one of the central stories of the Fenian cycle. A separate English Braden exists as a place name meaning a broad valley, and the two are unrelated. Brayden proper is an American respelling from the 1990s rhyming set with Jayden, Kayden and Aiden, most of which are invented rather than inherited.
Brayden in use
Brayden peaked in the United States in 2010, when 9,168 babies were registered — the largest single-year figure in this group and one of the latest peaks on this site — and is falling. It now ranks 229th in the United States on 1,545 births, 368th in Northern Ireland on 4, 391st in Scotland on 9, 758th in Ireland, 1217th in England and Wales on 24 and 2067th in France, across 152,031 lifetime births in all seven markets we track. Our records carry it only from 1970.
How popular is Brayden?
In 2025, Brayden was given to 1,545 babies in the United States, ranking #229 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Brayden 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 Brayden
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Brayden also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Brayden over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
3 nicknames for Brayden
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.
Brayden 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 Brayden
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Brayden — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Brayden
What does the name Brayden mean?
Descendant of Bradán — an Irish byname meaning a salmon.
Does Brayden mean broad valley?
That belongs to the separate English surname Braden. The Irish route gives the salmon.
Is Brayden a modern name?
The spelling is. Our records carry it only from 1970 and it peaked in 2010.
How popular is Brayden?
229th in the United States, down from a 2010 peak of 9,122 births.
Is Brayden a girl's or a boy's name?
Brayden is given almost entirely to boys in birth records.
What are the nicknames for Brayden?
Brayden is usually shortened to Bray, Brady and Denny.
Is Brayden a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Brayden currently ranks #229 in the United States. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.