I have to believe that back in 1959, grandparents and neighbors and friends at church would sniff at the idea of naming a new son Jason. “What’s wrong with Robert or Gary,” you can imagine them saying. “Or why not name him after uncle Frank?” Then Jason slowly made his way to the top of the popularity charts, and people still rolled their eyes, but only sometimes, because everyone got used to calling little boys Jason.
Today, of course, Jason is the dad, the neighbor, the pastor of the church. And the name in the spotlight prompting wrinkled noses? That would be Jayden.
It was actually Jaden that appeared on the scene first, debuting in the US Top 1000 back in 1994. When mega stars Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith gave the name to their son in 1998, Jaden jumped from #456 in 2007 to #328 to #203 to #154 by 2000.
It quickly turned epidemic.
Jaden Christopher Syre Smith is now an artist in his own right, but his spelling is waning. By 2002, Jayden sailed past Jaden. In 2006, pop sensation Britney Spears gave the name to her second son, and that seemed to be the point of no return. In 2010 and 2011, Jayden occupied the #4 spot in the US.
This isn’t just an example of a name becoming wildly fashionable. Unlike Jacob or Jason or Mason, there’s almost no backstory for Jayden. He is the first name of recent coinage to surge into the Top Ten. On the girls’ side we’ve had Brittany, but she’s a time-tested classic compared to Jayden.
So where did Jayden come from in the first place?
- There’s a powerful argument that he was born out of popular sounds recombined: a mix of the Jay from Jacob, James, and Jason, added to Aidan and all of those other ends-in-n names that have dominated for decades.
- Aidan, of course, was racing up the charts at the same time Jaden and Jayden appeared. But so was Hayden, the other aden name with a considerable pedigree, as well as notable bearers from Hayden Carruth to Hayden Christenson.
- There’s a minor Jadon in the Old Testament, a figure in the Book of Nehemiah who helped build the wall of Jerusalem. Jadon was almost certainly to be found in a few baby name books, probably with the meaning “thankful” attached, though I’ve also seen “he will judge.” All of those parents attracted to Noah and Joshua might have liked Jayden’s claim to a Biblical origin.
- Could there be a sci fi twist? In the seventh and final season of wildly influential Star Trek: The Next Generation, Data – the android – suffers from amnesia on a mission to a pre-industrial settlement. His rescuers decide to call him Jayden. It sounds bizarre, but the episode’s February 1994 showing tracks very neatly with the debut of Jaden and Jayden into the US Top 1000.
Jayden found a ready and willing world, whether parents first encountered him on television, in People Magazine, or in the Good Book. He came to us at a moment when our love affair with letter J was unquestionable, as was our willingness to try something just a little different for a son. Jayden might not be your style, but he’s a good example of how much freedom American parents have to invent and re-invent appellations for our children. That’s something to appreciate, even if the -aden epidemic makes your ears bleed.
Oh, and doesn’t Braden have a decent pedigree? I went to high school with one so I know it’s been around for at least 25 years. Which isn’t exactly a long history but it didn’t strike me as weird or made up at the time, just a little unusual.
Jaden doesn’t bother me that much. I find all the rhyming names and their overuse annoying, but they don’t sound unpleasant. Aidan was on my list once upon a time. Once it became so popular, spawning multiple spellings, it fell off.
To be fair, I always liked how the Pinkett-Smiths named the boy after his mother. That almost never happens now, not even with girls – which used to be as common as Jrs on boys.
I agree. 🙂
I’m with you. I think of their Jaden as “legitimate” since his name has a meaning.
And then the girl after the father. Will/Willow. Even if I wouldn’t do it myself, I kind of like their family tradition.
That’s a very good point, Rita!
When I was around 10 years old, I thought I made up the name Jaden. I was very disappointed when Will & Jada used it for their son a couple years later (and amused when I found out that I did not, in fact, create this name)! I don’t mind this name, but the spelling of Jayden definitely irks me, I much prefer Jaden or Jadon.
I teach a very sweet little Kayden in Sunday School and one of my best friends has a Hayden and I really can’t consider them or their parents trashy. I would just never use a name without at least a few generations of use and I prefer names with one obvious spelling, which none of the -ayden names really have.
I’m glad to know about the biblical link to Jaden, but in addition to all the other issues (although I refuse to call any other fellow human trashy), it reminds me of jaded.
Another one Uma won’t use 😉
I find it interesting that the least use spellings – Jadon and Aden – are biblical. Knowing that Jadon’s biblical makes me warm up to it a bit more. Hayden and Brayton are family surnames that I considered using before the meteoric rise of the -aiden names.
I suspect the 1963 movie, Jason and the Argonauts, helped propel Jason up the charts.
I agree. Jadon isn’t a bad name at all. I could see why parents may have first turned to it. It is just too bad that Jayden has become exceedingly far more popular than its Biblical ancestor.
To be fair, I’m not sure that comparing Jayden to Jason is entirely accurate. Jayden is a never-before-seen, newly-coined name whereas Jason definitely saw some use in the US during the 1800s, especially toward the middle of the century.
That said, every time I hear a name that rhymes with Jayden I want to scream. One of the teams in my cousin’s baseball league has a Kaden, Jayden, and an Aiden (not sure of the spellings). Is this the future of America? Every boys’ sports team having multiple -adens? Also, for what it’s worth, I have noticed that nearly all of the parents of these boys (and sometimes girls) are, shall we say, a little trashy?
Despite it being a smoosh of classic boy names, Jayden just feels feminine to me. I’m sure it charts much lower for girls. I just don’t like it for a boy or a man at all.
As soon as Britney used it, it became a never-ever for me. She’s just about the opposite of the word “class”, so any name she chose (Preston?) fell into the not-gonna-do-it camp for me.
And can somebody explain why the tabloids use first and middle when “reporting” on starbabies? He’s always Jayden James and his brother is always Seam Preston.
“The opposite of class…” Yep! When a porn star steals your kid’s name (Jayden James, on a girl, no less) you have failed as a namer.