boy's name
Caden
KAY-den
- Origin Modern coinage
- Gender Boy
- Letters 5
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 78,914
the United States
#201
2025 births
Caden is a boy's name of modern American coinage with no documented origin. Sources offer an Irish Mac Cadáin and a Welsh reading, but the name is absent from birth records until 1979, which neither account explains.
- Caden is a name of Modern coinage origin.
- Peaked in 2007, when 5,122 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 1,892 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1979.
Caden 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 | 5 |
| 1980s | 90 |
| 1990s | 2,913 |
| 2000s | 37,328 |
| 2010s | 22,593 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 10,064 |
What Caden means
Caden has no established meaning. Son of Cadán, round, and battle are all offered; each attaches the name to a different older word, and none is supported by its actual history.
Where Caden comes from
Caden heads the -aden family that also produced Aiden, Jayden, Brayden and Kayden — names that rose together in America from the 1980s and 1990s sharing an ending rather than an origin. Hayden and Aiden have genuine older roots; Caden does not. The Irish surname Mac Cadáin is sometimes given as its source, but our records show Caden absent from birth data until 1979, which is very hard to reconcile with descent from a medieval Irish name. The honest position is that it was coined and then explained afterwards.
Caden in use
Our data shows Caden falling, peaking in 2007, at 201 in the United States against 755 in England and Wales. It first appears in our records in 1979. Its curve — complete absence, a sharp rise within one generation, then decline — is the clearest coinage signature in our data, and Kayden, Jayce and Brielle trace the same shape.
How popular is Caden?
In 2025, Caden was given to 1,752 babies in the United States, ranking #201 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Caden 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 Caden
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Caden also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Caden over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
1 nickname for Caden
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.
Caden 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 Caden
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Caden — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Caden
What does the name Caden mean?
There is no established meaning. It appears to be a modern coinage built on the -aden sound pattern.
Is Caden an Irish name?
Probably not. Mac Cadáin is sometimes offered, but Caden is absent from birth records until 1979.
Why are there so many spellings?
A coined name has no traditional spelling to anchor it, so Caden, Kaden, Cayden and Kayden all coexist.
How popular is the name Caden?
In 2025, Caden was given to 1,752 babies in the United States, ranking #201 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Is Caden a girl's or a boy's name?
Caden is given almost entirely to boys in birth records.
When was Caden most popular?
Caden peaked in 2007, when 5,122 babies were given the name. It has been falling over the past decade.
What are the nicknames for Caden?
Caden is usually shortened to Cade.
Is Caden a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Caden currently ranks #201 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.