Head to head · Boys' names
Alden vs Kason
#598 vs #597 in 2025
Kason is a whisker ahead (#597 vs #598 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Kason is stepping back from its peak, Alden is holding its place on the charts. On momentum, Alden has the edge.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Kason leads 4 measures of 6; Alden leads 2.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Alden #741, Kason — — Alden higher
- 1890s: Alden #730, Kason — — Alden higher
- 1900s: Alden #628, Kason — — Alden higher
- 1910s: Alden #482, Kason — — Alden higher
- 1920s: Alden #460, Kason — — Alden higher
- 1930s: Alden #507, Kason — — Alden higher
- 1940s: Alden #626, Kason — — Alden higher
- 1950s: Alden #749, Kason — — Alden higher
- 1960s: Alden #890, Kason — — Alden higher
- 1970s: Alden #1218, Kason #4704 — Alden higher
- 1980s: Alden #1050, Kason #2667 — Alden higher
- 1990s: Alden #983, Kason #1996 — Alden higher
- 2000s: Alden #835, Kason #926 — Alden higher
- 2010s: Alden #718, Kason #394 — Kason higher
- 2020s: Alden #632, Kason #491 — Kason higher
Alden stood higher in 13 of 15 decades; Kason has held the lead since the 2010s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Alden | Kason |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #741 | — |
| 1890s | #730 | — |
| 1900s | #628 | — |
| 1910s | #482 | — |
| 1920s | #460 | — |
| 1930s | #507 | — |
| 1940s | #626 | — |
| 1950s | #749 | — |
| 1960s | #890 | — |
| 1970s | #1218 | #4704 |
| 1980s | #1050 | #2667 |
| 1990s | #983 | #1996 |
| 2000s | #835 | #926 |
| 2010s | #718 | #394 |
| 2020s | #632 | #491 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Alden
Most often read as "old friend"
The leading reading traces Alden to the Old English name Ealdwine, from eald "old" and wine "friend." Alden also arose as a surname in other ways: from place names in northern England, and as an English reworking of the Old Norse name Halfdan. All three roads end at the same modern spelling, so which one a given family's Alden came down is usually unrecoverable.
Ealdwine → Aldwin → Alden
How it traveled
Ealdwine was an ordinary Old English name before the Norman Conquest, and like most such names it faded as a given name while surviving stubbornly as a surname — Aldwin, Alwin, Alden. It crossed the Atlantic early: John Alden sailed on the Mayflower in 1620, and Longfellow put him at the center of "The Courtship of Miles Standish" in 1858, which kept the surname in American schoolbooks for generations.
Kason
Not established
No established etymology. What is documented is the shape: Kason sits in a cluster with Cason, Kasen, Kaysen and Kayson, and echoes the older Mason and Jason — Mason from the trade of stoneworking, Jason from Greek. Kason itself carries no inherited meaning of its own, and no source has settled one on it.
Our story of Kason — where the record runs out
Think of it as a name assembled rather than inherited. Mason and Jason had been in American ears for generations; the letter K had become the mark of a fresh start on an old sound; somewhere those two facts met and Kason stepped out of them, fully formed and needing no introduction.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Alden
AWL-den
Two syllables, stress on the first. Some families say it with the flat vowel of "Al" instead; both are heard and neither needs correcting.
- Al — The standard short form, shared with Albert, Alan and Alfred; stands alone as a given name and is most common among older generations.
- Aldy — Informal, mostly a family or childhood nickname rather than anything used on paper.
- Den — Occasional, drawn from the second syllable; overlaps with short forms of Dennis.
Kason
KAY-sun
Stress on the first syllable; it rhymes cleanly with Mason and Jason. The K spelling does not change the sound from Cason.
- Kase — The usual short form, informal; also seen as Case, which stands alone as a given name in the US.
- K — Initial-only nickname, informal, common among friends and teammates.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Alden if you want…
- a name on the way upup 74 places on the charts in five years
- a long American recordAlden was already in use when US records began in 1880
Choose Kason if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsKason is stepping back from its peak
- a newer arrivalKason entered the US charts in 1974
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Alden
Strengths
- Spelling and sound match: people who see it can say it, and people who hear it can usually spell it.
- A documented English name line reaching back to Old English Ealdwine, with unbroken use as a surname in between.
- Present in American records across every generation on the chart beside this, without ever crowding a classroom.
To consider
- It sits one consonant away from Aiden, Aidan and Alton — all far more common. Expect to repeat it on the phone and to see it written back to you wrong now and then.
- Elden and Aldon are live alternative spellings, so the name will occasionally be guessed rather than known.
- As a surname-turned-first-name, it can read as a last name to some ears — fine in the US, where that path is well worn, but worth knowing.
Kason
Strengths
- Sound needs no explaining: anyone who knows Mason or Jason says Kason correctly on the first try.
- Two syllables, six letters, front stress — easy for a small child to say and to write.
- Has a working short form, Kase, already in real use.
To consider
- The sound is obvious but the spelling is not. Cason, Kasen, Kaysen and Kayson all sound identical, so expect a lifetime of spelling it out loud even though no one mispronounces it.
- Its recorded life is short and its wave is very recent, so the name is tightly tied to one span of years — it will read as belonging to a particular generation rather than to no era at all.
- Use is noticeably concentrated in Texas, Georgia and Florida, which can make it feel more or less familiar depending on where the family lands.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Alden and Kason in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Alden and Kason?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
Free to start · no account needed · everyone you invite votes in one tap
More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Alden or Kason — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Alden or Kason?
- Kason, in 2025: Kason ranked #597 with 480 babies; Alden ranked #598 with 479 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Alden or Kason?
- Alden. Over the last five years Alden moved up 74 places; Kason moved down 231 places.
- Which is the older name, Alden or Kason?
- Alden was already in use when US records began in 1880; Kason entered the US charts in 1974. On the American record, Alden is the older name.
- How many people are named Alden and Kason?
- About 13,000 people named Alden are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 15,000 people named Kason are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Aldens or Kasons in the classroom?
- Alden will almost certainly be the only one in school. Kason will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Alden, Kason and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
Free to start · no account needed · everyone you invite votes in one tap