Cayden

Cayden is a modern American coinage, a younger cousin to Caden and Jayden, likely born of the same sound-cluster boom that lifted Aiden and Brayden in the early 2000s. Some trace it loosely to the Gaelic Cadan, meaning fighter, though it is better understood as a sound first and a meaning second. Two syllables, KAY-den, crisp opening and a gentle consonant close. It has settled into steady American usage, popular enough to feel familiar and not so common as to feel worn. The name reads friendly and up-tempo. Cayden suits a boy with a wide grin, a skateboard somewhere nearby, and a quick joke ready.