80,441 baby boys given “ayden” names in 2012, based on the top 1000 database on the SSA website, according to my calculations. There are approximately 4 million babies born in the US every year. Over 80,000 out of 2 million boys named [name_u]Aidan[/name_u], [name_u]Jayden[/name_u], Braydin, [name_u]Hayden[/name_u], [name_m]Zaydin[/name_m], [name_m]Raiden[/name_m], etc. [name_m]Just[/name_m] an observation I wanted to share with my fellow namenerds! [name_m]Feel[/name_m] free to share your thoughts.
I’m sure the number is higher than that when you consider all of the insane variant spellings, but even 80,441 makes the [name_u]Aidan[/name_u] names over 4x as common as [name_m]Jacob[/name_m]. I fondly refer to this as the Aidenity crisis.
I actually do like [name_u]Aidan[/name_u], even so. But only [name_u]Aidan[/name_u], spelt this way. (Not fond of [name_u]Aiden[/name_u])
I have a [name_m]Kaiden[/name_m] and a [name_m]Braden[/name_m] in my class. 
I used to like [name_m]Braden[/name_m] until I realized all the other ayden names
southern.maple, Aidenity crisis, I love it.
Those numbers are very interesting!
I prefer “ayden” names when they’re used in a girl. [name_u]Hayden[/name_u] on a girl is adorable, on a boy, obnoxious. [name_u]Jaidyn[/name_u]/[name_u]Jayden[/name_u] on a girl is also cute. Not on a boy.
Ugh…you wouldn’t believe how difficult this trend makes my job as a substitute teacher sometimes. Everyone says, “oh, don’t name him/her (top 10 name) because it’s too popular - she won’t be the only one in her class!” But, honestly, I rarely encounter 2 Jacobs or 2 Sophias in a class, but I often have more than one kid with an -ayden name. And they’re so hard to remember because they’re made up! I’m constantly calling them by some similar-sounding incorrect name. I’d rather have 2 Jacobs, at least I’ll remember what to call them. The ridiculous thing is all these parents think they’re being unique.
I actually liked [name_u]Aidan[/name_u] the first time I heard it. It’s still way better than all of its many imitators!
I know several girls with these, I think it may be worse than the boys.
What is wrong with [name_f]Jade[/name_f]? [name_f]Jade[/name_f] is pretty. Can’t deal with [name_u]Jayden[/name_u] on either gender.
Because of their similarities to [name_u]Aidan[/name_u], which is legit (or at least some spelling of it is), [name_u]Hayden[/name_u] and [name_u]Jayden[/name_u] (etc.) are nothing but masculine to me.
I wonder what the total tally would be if you included all of the spellings outside the top 1,000! -aden names are a crazy trend. [name_m]Even[/name_m] though I sort of like [name_u]Aidan[/name_u], I’d never use it because of the trend.
Worse? -ayden sounds very feminine to me. [name_u]Aiden[/name_u] himself, along with a few other names, are good for boys. But most I prefer on girls. As for what’s wrong with [name_f]Jade[/name_f], it is getting a bit dated where I live. So to sum it up, that is why most -ayden names are appropriate for girls.
[name_u]Aidan[/name_u] and all its variants have become this generation’s [name_f]Jennifer[/name_f].
I’m going to have to disagree with this. The “[name_f]Jennifer[/name_f] Juggernaut” was an epidemic of ONE name: there are many -ayden/-aiden names. None have reached #1, like [name_f]Jennifer[/name_f] did. [name_m]Just[/name_m] the facts.
Aidentity crisis - that’s awesome!
I guess that’s why the “ayden” names don’t get much love here on Nameberry. There are so many of them with variant spellings that they all start to sound the same and blend into each other.
It always perplexes me when I hear that certain names sound fine for a girl but not for a boy. It’s the same name, isn’t it? The name sounds the same on either gender, doesn’t it? If a name isn’t good for a boy, why would you like it for a girl? I don’t understand that logic at all.
Honestly, I love [name_m]Caden[/name_m] but…
If you count all the different spelling of [name_u]Aiden[/name_u], and if you added all the Jaydens, Kaydens, it has been the was the number one name until last year 10 years. Looking at ssa site and tallying all the [name_u]Aiden[/name_u], [name_u]Aidan[/name_u], [name_u]Jayden[/name_u], Jadan, [name_m]Kaden[/name_m], [name_m]Caden[/name_m], etc names it took about 5 minute to get a total of over 500,000. That was only the boys. Being that about 21,000,000 boys where born in time frame that means 2% of the male population born with in the last 10 years will have a name that sounds like [name_u]Aiden[/name_u].
I have some plans today but I’m kind of intersted to see if counting boys and girls how many [name_u]Aiden[/name_u] type names have been given out in the last 10 years. 
I can’t stand these names. I mean, they sound nice, sure - but there’s SO many spelling variants, you have to ask before you even guess. I know so many Bradens, Braydens, Bradyns, Braedens, etc. It’s enough to drive one mad. It’s like none of them have the same spelling. At work, there’s one [name_u]Hayden[/name_u], a [name_u]Brayden[/name_u], and two Jadens (one [name_u]Jayden[/name_u] and one [name_m]Jaidan[/name_m]).
If you’re using these on a girl, I’m just going to facepalm. They’re horrid on boys. [name_m]Even[/name_m] worse than horrid on girls.
Okay, so this is my daughter, [name_m]William[/name_m]. And this is my nephew, [name_f]Lillian[/name_f]. See where I’m going with this? Some names are just much more fitting on a girl than a boy and vice versa. -ayden/-[name_u]Aiden[/name_u] names simply fit better on girls. End of story. 
I can’t think of one -ayden/-aiden name I like on girls.