Jayden

Jayden is a given name that was rather obscure until 1994, when it debuted on the United States Social Security Administration's list of the 1,000 most popular boys' names at No. 851. It became dramatically more popular among ethnic minorities^[1] in the United States thereafter with the naming of Will Smith's child Jaden Smith in 1998. (Jaden is a variant of Jayden.)^[2]

The name was the fourth most popular boys' name in the United States in 2010, according to the Social Security Administration.^[3] Altogether, nine variant spellings appear in the top 1,000.^[3] The name in this form was not a top 1,000 name in the United States until 1994, when it ranked 851 and was associated with 159 births in the United States. By 1999, the rank had risen to 254 and by 2009 number 8 with 17,082 births.^[4]

Jadon the Meronothite appears in Nehemiah 3:7.^[5] However, variant spellings usually become popular in the wake of the popularity of an orthodox version, and in this case the converse is true—Jadon became popular only in the wake of the popularity of Jayden, suggesting that it is not the source.^[6] On February 14, 1994, the year that Jayden initially rose to popularity, it was featured on an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation entitled "Thine Own Self", in which Lieutenant Commander Data loses his memory on an unfamiliar planet and is named "Jayden" by one of the inhabitants he encounters.^[7] Most likely, the name is of a modern invention, formed by blending the "Jay" sound from Jason and the "den" sound from Aidan or Hayden.^[8]

People

Jayden

• Jayden Hodges (born 1993), Australian rugby player
• Jayden Post (born 1989), Australian football player
• Jayden Stockley (born 1993), English football player

Jaden

• Jaden (wrestler) (born 1977), professional wrestling manager & promoter
• Jaden Smith (born 1998; son of actor Will Smith)

Jadin

• Jadin Bell (1997–2013), American victim of bullying who committed suicide

• Jadin Wong (1913–2010), American singer

Other variants

• Jadan McCullough, South African guitarist with the band New Loud Rockets
• Jadon Lavik (born 1978), American singer-songwriter
• Jaidon Codrington (born 1984), American boxer
• Jaidyn Leskie (1996–1997), Australian crime victim
• Jadyn Maria (born 1985), Puerto Rican singer-songwriter

Fictional characters

• Jaden Yuki, the 4Kids name given to the main character in the anime and manga series Yu-Gi-Oh! GX
• Jayden, the name given to the android Data in Thine Own Self, a 1994 episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation
• Jayden Shiba, the leader and red ranger from the TV series Power Rangers Samurai
• Jaden Korr, student of Kyle Katarn and Luke Skywalker in Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy

See also

• Jadin (disambiguation), French surname
• Jaidon River, Romania

References