Head to head · Boys' names
Edwin vs Kashton
#398 vs #400 in 2025
Edwin is a whisker ahead (#398 vs #400 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Edwin is stepping back from its peak, Kashton is holding its place on the charts. On momentum, Kashton 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, Edwin leads 5 measures of 6; Kashton leads 1.
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: Edwin #61, Kashton — — Edwin higher
- 1890s: Edwin #59, Kashton — — Edwin higher
- 1900s: Edwin #64, Kashton — — Edwin higher
- 1910s: Edwin #56, Kashton — — Edwin higher
- 1920s: Edwin #56, Kashton — — Edwin higher
- 1930s: Edwin #81, Kashton — — Edwin higher
- 1940s: Edwin #109, Kashton — — Edwin higher
- 1950s: Edwin #126, Kashton — — Edwin higher
- 1960s: Edwin #152, Kashton — — Edwin higher
- 1970s: Edwin #182, Kashton — — Edwin higher
- 1980s: Edwin #187, Kashton — — Edwin higher
- 1990s: Edwin #184, Kashton — — Edwin higher
- 2000s: Edwin #179, Kashton #4371 — Edwin higher
- 2010s: Edwin #294, Kashton #1113 — Edwin higher
- 2020s: Edwin #370, Kashton #410 — Edwin higher
Edwin stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Edwin | Kashton |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #61 | — |
| 1890s | #59 | — |
| 1900s | #64 | — |
| 1910s | #56 | — |
| 1920s | #56 | — |
| 1930s | #81 | — |
| 1940s | #109 | — |
| 1950s | #126 | — |
| 1960s | #152 | — |
| 1970s | #182 | — |
| 1980s | #187 | — |
| 1990s | #184 | — |
| 2000s | #179 | #4371 |
| 2010s | #294 | #1113 |
| 2020s | #370 | #410 |
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
Edwin
Rich friend
Old English ead, wealth or prosperity, and wine, a friend, so the name promises a well-off friend or a friend of the family's fortune. Both elements are among the most productive in Anglo-Saxon naming and both are transparent, which is unusual for a name this old.
Eadwine → Edwin
How it traveled
Edwin of Northumbria took two years over the decision, and the account written a century later gives the council he called: the chief priest of the old religion says that he has served the gods more diligently than anybody and got less from them than others have, which is either the most cynical or the most honest remark in early English history, and then rides out and throws a spear into his own temple. The sparrow speech belongs to a different councillor.
Kashton
Not established
Kashton is a modern coinage rather than an inherited name, so it has no established translation. What is documented are its parts: the -ton ending comes from Old English tūn, 'enclosure, farmstead, settlement', the element behind thousands of English place names and the surnames drawn from them; the opening syllable matches Kash, the K-spelling of Cash that circulates as a name in its own right in the US. Nobody has settled which name it was modeled on, and it may simply have been assembled by sound.
How it traveled
Names ending in -ton reached American children by a long road: Old English tūn, 'settlement', built into place names, place names hardened into surnames, and surnames became first names in the United States. That pattern gave Ashton, Easton, Braxton and Paxton, and Kashton belongs to the same family — a K-initial variation on a shape parents already recognized.
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
Edwin
ED-win
Two syllables with the stress at the front. Both syllables keep a full vowel, which is unusual for a two-syllable English name and gives it a slightly formal weight.
- Ed — The front closed off; plain, adult and shared with several other names.
- Eddie — The front softened; warm, unisex and used well into adult life.
- Win — The back half; a complete word and increasingly used as a name of its own.
Kashton
KASH-tun
Two syllables, stress on the first: Ashton with a K in front. The second syllable is the same unstressed -ton heard in Easton and Clinton, never 'tone'.
- Kash — The obvious short form, and also recorded on its own as a given name in the US.
- Kashy — Family-level affectionate form, mostly used with young children.
- Ash — Occasional informal clipping from the second half, shared with Ashton.
- K — Initial-only nickname, common among school 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 Edwin if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsEdwin is stepping back from its peak
- a long American recordEdwin was already in use when US records began in 1880
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 12% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 40% for Kashton
Choose Kashton if you want…
- a name on the way upup 42 places on the charts in five years
- a newer arrivalKashton entered the US charts in 2004
- a name that feels very nowKashton is holding its place on the charts
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
Edwin
Strengths
- It has been in use for fourteen hundred years and is spelled the same way in three other languages.
- Ed, Eddie and Win are three short forms in three quite different registers.
- Both halves have transparent meanings that can be given to a child at once.
To consider
- The record carries it for girls in small numbers, so it is not quite an absolute signal.
- It reads as an older man's name to many Americans, though that has begun to shift.
- Edwin is also very common in Spanish-speaking countries, which surprises English speakers.
Kashton
Strengths
- Reads correctly on sight for English speakers — the -ton ending is already familiar from Ashton, Easton and Braxton, so it rarely needs sounding out.
- Comes with a ready short form, Kash, which is itself in use as a standalone name.
- Steady rather than spiky in the record: it has held a consistent place instead of surging and vanishing.
To consider
- The K will be questioned constantly. Cashton, Kashtyn and Cashtyn all exist, so expect to spell it aloud — and to have people default to C.
- The first syllable sounds exactly like 'cash', which invites money jokes, mostly harmless and mostly from other kids.
- Almost everyone carrying this name is still a child, so it currently reads as belonging to one very recent wave rather than to any adult generation.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Edwin
12%chance Edwin feels dated by 2040
Edwin has held the top-100 across 6 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
Kashton
40%chance Kashton feels dated by 2040
Kashton sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
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 Edwin and Kashton in full.
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Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
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Put both to the vote.
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More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
- Dickens names
- Names borrowed from scientists
- Names that belong entirely to the 1910s
- Names ending in -in
- all guides
Where Edwin and Kashton each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Edwin or Kashton — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Edwin or Kashton?
- Edwin, in 2025: Edwin ranked #398 with 798 babies; Kashton ranked #400 with 797 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Edwin or Kashton?
- Kashton. Over the last five years Edwin moved down 54 places; Kashton moved up 42 places.
- Which is the older name, Edwin or Kashton?
- Edwin was already in use when US records began in 1880; Kashton entered the US charts in 2004. On the American record, Edwin is the older name.
- How many people are named Edwin and Kashton?
- About 133,000 people named Edwin are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 7,600 people named Kashton are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Edwins or Kashtons in the classroom?
- Edwin will almost certainly be the only one in school. Kashton 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
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