Just how common is Aiden??

[newmama]

Hey ladies,
So, as much as I try to think of other names that I like (and can get OH to agree to).......I keep coming back to Aiden as my favorite. Since it's been on the top 100 list for the past 5+ years in a row.......I'm worried that it will be way too common by the time our LO gets here. I don't want him to have 5 other Aiden's in his class!

For those of you with LO's.....how common is this name REALLY?! We're in the Pacific NW, for those of you around here.

Thx for the feedback!

 

[strawberry19]

if it helps i dont know any children with that name and i work in a nursery and havent came across any in the last 4 years.. a name that is in the most populr list isnt always that popular in the are you live in

 

[newmama]

thanks strawberry19 that's why i wanted to check to see how popular it is REALLY -- especially in the seattle area.

 

[jellytot3]

you'll find even if the name isnt popular when you choose it, as soon as your baby has the name you will notice other people with it ALL the time. I chose Willow 6 years ago and no-one had it, now i know of quite a few.
Btw, Aiden is a lovely name! xx

 

[SammieGrace]

If you are wondering about the popularity in your state, the ssa has a website where you can check it at: https://ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/state/index.html
I checked and it looks like in Washington in 2009, Aiden was #8 on the list, with 339 baby boys given that name within one year. IDK if that additional info helps, but there were exactly 89,242 live births in 2009 in the state of Washington. We know that roughly 51% of live births are male which would mean roughly 45, 513 were boys. All being said and done, if 339 of those boys were named Aiden, that would only be 0.75% of the boys born that year, which means about 8 of every 1000 boys. So I think as far as how many other kids would be born in the same year and potential classmates of your kid, it's probably fine.

Wow, I have too much free time....

 

[newmama]

SammieGrace - i u!! this is awesome thanks so much!

 

[Bartness]

I know of 4 Aidens, in the midwest, and one of them is a girl (Aiden Grace, my neice)

 

[newmama]

thanks bartness

 

[Ouverture]

I worked in a daycare for a little while a year ago and there were 3 Aiden's, all under the age of 3. This includes the different spellings: Aidyn, Adyn, Aiden, etc.

There were also Cayden and Braydon and Jaydon. . .all spinoffs.

It is an adorable name - but I understand not wanting it to be too popular! If you love it though, go for it It may just be the new traditional boys name (like John, for example) and will be classic and there is a lot to be said for that!

 

[newmama]

thanks ouverture........i was thinking about that too --- all the caiden, jayden, braydon's as well. thankfully we have lots of time to decide! i do love it tho, and am still looking for an excuse to keep it. lol

 

[gghoney]

I LOVE the name Aiden! It's my five year old's name... When he was born i had never met another Aiden, but it seems like it's everywhere since then. I really didn't want him to have a super popular name, but it seems like the spinoffs are overtaking it lately. I personally know a Braedan, Kaden, Hayden and Jayden, and the first two are my sons same age. That said, if you love it, then go with it!

 

[sun]

Aiden is one of the most popular boys names right now where I live. Along with Jack (Jackson) and Ethan.
In the end though - you have to go with a name you love!!! xxx

 

[SammieGrace]

Ok...so I am back! With some more numbers !

Everyone raised a good point about the other "Aiden" spellings and similar names, so I went back to do a little more research... hehehe

Here is the verdict:
First, a list of all of the Aiden type names in the top 100 for 2009 in Washington:
Popularity Rank -- Name --- # of boys born w/ name
8 ------------------ Aiden --- 339
14------------------Jayden--- 292
52------------------Brayden - 160
93------------------Kaden --- 102
95------------------Aidan ---- 98
96------------------Hayden -- 98

So all together, thats: 437 Aiden/Aidans = 0.96% of boys in Wa in 2009 were given that name ---> roughly 1 in every 100 boys
Total of boys born in 2009 with Aiden style names that made the top 10 list: 1,089
*that equals 2.4% of boys ---> roughly 2-3 in every 100 boys

So even when you factor in all of the popular (top 100) similar names, it still isn't all that common! I think it's ok

 

[Green Lady]

I wrestled with the Aidan dilemma too! My hubby and I agreed on it for a boy straight away. I loved it--traditional yet modern-sounding. Silly me though thought it was unusual! I never had an inkling it was #1 in the US. Though we live in the UK I'm an American so there's a good chance we might go back sometimes, and I also didn't want our child to have a name every other kid would have.

But I read an article that said even if you name your child with the most popular one at the time, the chances of them bumping in to another kid with that name are actually a good deal lower than in the past. That's because parents today are choosing from a wider variety of names than they used to. And all in all I still think you're more likely to encounter a James or a Matthew, simply because those have been traditional names for a long time.

The only thing that worries me is that it might seem like we picked a 'trendy' name on purpose, or we weren't very creative lol. And the whole -aden craze in the US leaves me scratching my head. But I think if we have a little boy I'll still be calling him Aidan.

 

[newmama]

thank you ladies!

sammiegrace, you are awesome my OH is an engineer so i sent your post directly to him... he says "oooh, i like her!" ahahaha we definitely appreciate the analysis!

i'm exactly with you green lady.... we both loved the name straight away, but now we are reconsidering based on popularity of aiden and all the other -aden names because it really seems to be SUCH a craze over here right now. we just said last night that we don't want to pick something "trendy" or constantly have him clarify that he is aiden, not kayden, jayden, brayden or hayden.

we still have some time to think about it before we really have to decide, so am just trying to keep my ears open in the meantime to see how often i hear it. we also really love nate/nathan.....so we are waffling back and forth

 

[Green Lady]

I get annoyed sometimes that all the names I've loved forever are so popular now. Emily is mine, ha ha! But my thought is that Aidan is a good, traditional name that will still stand the test of time, even if he is in a class that sounds like it was named by Dr. Seuss.

Funny thing is, I never thought to associate names like Brayden or Jaden with Aidan until I started looking it up. Apart from rhyming they don't have anything in common. I'm also wondering why the variant Aiden seems to be more common in the US than the traditional Aidan?

 

[Braven05]

My nephew is named Aiden...and I work at a summer camp and know quite a few Aiden's....so here in Eastern US its pretty popular

 

[newmama]

thanks braven05...i was afraid of that.

good question green lady, lol. i feel the same way -- LOVE emily and emma, olivia, but refuse to use them due to over-popularity these days. *sigh*

in the end, we will pick the name that we love most regardless......i think there are going to be "issues" with whatever you pick somehow, so oh well! we'll just keep using the names over the next few months and see what sticks for us.

 

[XfairyhopesX]

My little boy is Aiden so i love it!!! x

 

[emiemz]

One of my dear friends 9mo old is named Aiden. i LOVE the name Cayden.... but once I started lovin it.. it became popular, Lol. But Aiden was the #1 Boy name in 2010. Good Luck Hun! .