Jayden

A name that arrived more or less out of nowhere in the late 1990s, Jayden is a modern American coinage, usually explained as a riff on Hayden or a respelling of the biblical Jadon, though the truth is it came from the same cultural moment as Aiden, Brayden, and Kayden, a whole rhyming cohort of rising boys. Will Smith put it on the marquee with his son in 2007, and the name crested near the top five. It has since settled back to 59, given to about one in 334 boys. No ancient kings, no saints, just a fresh sound and a crisp modern snap.