I know all the names ending with -den have a bit of a bad reputation, and I’m really not fond of all the [name_u]Jaden[/name_u], Cadens, Bradens etc, but I really love the name [name_u]Hayden[/name_u] for a boy. Particularly paired with [name_u]James[/name_u] or [name_m]Joshua[/name_m] as middle names.
I was just wondering if it’s still considered a boys name? A lot of forum’s I’ve seen it mentioned have referred to it for a girls name, so I’m curious as to whether people would automatically think he was a girl if reading his name on paper.
In my opinion, [name_u]Hayden[/name_u] is pretty unisex. I know some younger boys named [name_u]Hayden[/name_u]. With the mn [name_u]James[/name_u] or [name_m]Joshua[/name_m], I think it’s plenty masculine!
The only [name_u]Hayden[/name_u]'s I know are male.
In fact I know a twin set that’s [name_u]Hayden[/name_u] and [name_f]Hanna[/name_f].
It does have the ring of the trendy boy-to-girl names, but then I know a girl named [name_u]Jamison[/name_u] so you can’t cut out a boy’s name you love just because someone out there used it for a girl.
I a think a (modern) name’s masculinity or femininity is based entirely on your personal association with it. I think it’s masculine because my primary association with it is with a male.
Thanks everyone. I definitely get what you mean about association - I’ve never actually met a [name_u]Hayden[/name_u] irl, so I guess that’s why I wasn’t quite sure.
I knew a [name_u]Hayden[/name_u] (male) and a [name_u]Haydn[/name_u] (female, pronounced the same as [name_u]Hayden[/name_u]) growing up, and I think it works fine either way.
My oldest son is named [name_u]Hayden[/name_u], we call him Hay for short. I had the same questions five years ago but honestly, I can’t think of a name that fits our oldest any better. His middle name is [name_m]Christopher[/name_m]. We did want to go with a more masculine name as a middle name but we were also carrying on a tradition in my family with “[name_u]Chris[/name_u].” We know a few girls named [name_u]Hayden[/name_u] but we wouldn’t change a thing if we had to go back. Go with your gut. [name_f]Hope[/name_f] this helps.
I think it is. I only know one [name_u]Hayden[/name_u], and he’s a guy. [name_u]Hayden[/name_u] Panettiere made it more well-known for girls, but there’s [name_u]Hayden[/name_u] Christensen for the boys, and I think it sounds much more masculine then feminine, personally! No one seems to have an issue with the name of the little [name_u]Hayden[/name_u] I know, but I admittedly don’t know him well, so I really wouldn’t have had enough contact with the family to know that. I think [name_u]Hayden[/name_u] [name_u]James[/name_u] and [name_u]Hayden[/name_u] [name_m]Joshua[/name_m] are nice, too. I like [name_u]Hayden[/name_u] [name_m]Joshua[/name_m] more, but I like [name_u]Evan[/name_u] [name_m]Joshua[/name_m] in your signature more than that (the pairing, I mean. I think I’d rather meet a boy [name_u]Hayden[/name_u] than a boy [name_u]Evan[/name_u], despite that being very un-[name_u]Berry[/name_u]-like of me to say. :)).
I am female and named [name_u]Hayden[/name_u], but it was a family surname and people definitely consider it a boys name, in my experience. No complaints, love my name, but I would not worry about using it for a boy. It has been around for many years in the boys section of the name books out there:)
She suggests [name_m]Henry[/name_m] or [name_m]Marvin[/name_m] or [name_m]Asher[/name_m] or [name_m]Hawthorne[/name_m] or [name_m]Magnus[/name_m] if the [name_u]Hayden[/name_u]/[name_u]Jayden[/name_u]/[name_m]Caden[/name_m] thing is too much for you. I think it’s a great name for a boy, but it does kind of get lumped in with the Jaydens and Kadens (even though [name_u]Hayden[/name_u] unlike the others is actually a historical name, not a modern invented or kr8tive one). If you do use [name_u]Hayden[/name_u], I could see it being used on girls as well (a la [name_u]Finley[/name_u]) so I would give him an unmistakable masculine middle, like [name_m]Joshua[/name_m], [name_m]David[/name_m], etc.
Thank you all so much! This has been really helpful, and definitely reaffirmed my love for the name. I think we’re most likely to go with [name_u]Hayden[/name_u] [name_m]Joshua[/name_m], as [name_m]Joshua[/name_m] has been a favourite name of mine since I was little, but I know far too many of them to use it as a first name!
Larkspur83, that article is amazing. It also reminded me of my love for the name [name_f]Felicity[/name_f]!
I think [name_u]Hayden[/name_u] makes a great name for a boy. You could spell it [name_u]Haydn[/name_u] after composer [name_m]Joseph[/name_m] [name_u]Haydn[/name_u] as well.
[name_u]Hayden[/name_u] is and has been used on girls. [name_u]Hayden[/name_u] Panettiere is a famous example.
The only baby [name_u]Hayden[/name_u] I know is a girl and I guess [name_u]Hayden[/name_u] Panettiere sort of underlines the feminine qualities of the name (to be fair I should point out that baby [name_u]Hayden[/name_u] was named after the aforementioned actress).
However, [name_u]Hayden[/name_u] is derived from an old English surname. Many last-names as first-names tend to sit better with the average berry on boys than girls. So overall, I think [name_u]Hayden[/name_u] is a great uni-sex name and plenty masculine enough for a little boy.
