Head to head · Boys' names
Kaiden vs Kevin
#237 vs #221 in 2025 · both stepping back from its peak
Kevin is a whisker ahead (#221 vs #237 in 2025) and both are stepping back from its peak. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
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, Kevin leads 5 measures of 6; Kaiden leads 0.
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
- 1910s: Kaiden —, Kevin #1829 — Kevin higher
- 1920s: Kaiden —, Kevin #917 — Kevin higher
- 1930s: Kaiden —, Kevin #471 — Kevin higher
- 1940s: Kaiden —, Kevin #209 — Kevin higher
- 1950s: Kaiden —, Kevin #34 — Kevin higher
- 1960s: Kaiden —, Kevin #15 — Kevin higher
- 1970s: Kaiden —, Kevin #15 — Kevin higher
- 1980s: Kaiden —, Kevin #22 — Kevin higher
- 1990s: Kaiden #2370, Kevin #27 — Kevin higher
- 2000s: Kaiden #377, Kevin #36 — Kevin higher
- 2010s: Kaiden #143, Kevin #88 — Kevin higher
- 2020s: Kaiden #181, Kevin #188 — Kaiden higher
Kevin stood higher in 11 of 12 decades; Kaiden took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Kaiden | Kevin |
|---|---|---|
| 1910s | — | #1829 |
| 1920s | — | #917 |
| 1930s | — | #471 |
| 1940s | — | #209 |
| 1950s | — | #34 |
| 1960s | — | #15 |
| 1970s | — | #15 |
| 1980s | — | #22 |
| 1990s | #2370 | #27 |
| 2000s | #377 | #36 |
| 2010s | #143 | #88 |
| 2020s | #181 | #188 |
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
Kaiden
Not established
No established etymology. Popular name books have offered readings like "fighter" or "companion", but neither traces to a documented source. What is documented is the company it keeps: Caden and its respellings emerged in American use within a cluster of rhyming names, and the older names it echoes do have clear roots — Aiden from Irish Aodhán, Hayden and Braden from British and Irish surnames. Kaiden's own origin is simply not settled.
How it traveled
Kaiden is an American spelling, one of several — Caden, Kaden, Cayden, Kayden — for a name that arrived without a paper trail behind it. It rose as part of the -aden rhyme family, whose oldest member, Aiden, goes back through Aidan to the Irish Aodhán, and which also drew on surnames like Hayden and Braden already in circulation as first names.
Kevin
gentle; kindly
Irish caomh means gentle, kind or beloved, and Caoimhin adds the diminutive -in, giving something like the gentle one. The derivation is well attested. It is worth noticing what the name does not say: most early medieval men's names across Europe are about battle, spears, rule or wolves, and a name meaning gentle stands out sharply against that background.
Caoimhín → Kevin
How it traveled
Kevin of Glendalough founded a monastery in a valley in Wicklow in the sixth century and is one of Ireland's principal saints; the stories about him involve a great deal of standing still in cold water and a blackbird nesting in his outstretched hand. The name stayed inside Ireland for a very long time and crossed to America with Irish emigration, becoming widely used in the middle of the last century — the first Gaelic name to do so on that scale, and the reason the rest followed.
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
Kaiden
KAY-den
Stress on the first syllable. The -ai- is a long A, as in Kaitlyn; the second syllable is a light -den. Pronunciation is the same across all the spellings in this family.
- Kai — The most-used short form; also a full given name in its own right in the US and elsewhere.
- Kade — Informal, and independently used as a given name, so it carries easily on its own.
- K — Casual initial nickname, mostly among friends and teammates.
- KD — Informal, usually with a middle or last initial attached.
Kevin
KEV-in
KEV-in, two syllables, stress at the front. Irish Caoimhin is closer to KWEE-veen or KEE-veen depending on the dialect, with the mh sounded as a v — so the English name is a considerable simplification of the original rather than a spelling of it.
- Kev — The front clipped, and the short form nearly every Kevin is given; a complete working name.
- Kevo — The name with an Australian-style ending, which travels further than its origin suggests.
- Vin — The back taken alone, and a standing short form of its own from an unrelated name.
Who has carried each name
Kaiden
No documented entry for Kaiden yet.
Kevin
Kevin Hart (b. 1979) — One of comedy's biggest box-office stars
Kevin Costner (b. 1955) — Dances with Wolves Oscar winner
Kevin Durant (b. 1988) — One of the NBA's greatest scorers
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Kaiden if you want…
- a name fewer children share#237 in 2025 — kaiden will almost certainly be the only one in school
- a name past its most crowded yearsKaiden is stepping back from its peak
- a name that feels very nowKaiden is stepping back from its peak
Choose Kevin if you want…
- a name most people already know#221 in 2025, 1,628 babies that year
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 12% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 40% for Kaiden
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
Kaiden
Strengths
- Reads correctly at first sight for English speakers — the sound is transparent from the spelling.
- Two ready short forms, Kai and Kade, both of which also work as standalone names.
- Sits in a rhyme family people already know, so it is heard and remembered without explanation.
To consider
- The spelling field is crowded: Kayden, Caden, Kaden and Cayden all sound identical. Expect to spell it out often, and expect forms and rosters to guess wrong now and then.
- No documented meaning. If a meaning you can tell a child about matters to you, this name will not supply one — and no source that offers one can back it up.
- Its wave is recent, so nearly everyone carrying the name is young. There are no older Kaidens to grow into, which some parents like and others miss.
Kevin
Strengths
- The meaning is gentle, which almost no other men's name of its age can say.
- Kev is a clean short form that works in any English-speaking country.
- The saint behind it is a real and well-documented figure with a place still attached to him.
To consider
- A very great many people carry it, so a Kevin will rarely be the only one in a room over a lifetime.
- In France and Germany the name arrived later and carries class associations it does not carry here, which matters if the family moves.
- It is strongly associated with one American generation and dates a person fairly closely.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Kaiden
40%chance Kaiden feels dated by 2040
Kaiden 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.
Kevin
12%chance Kevin feels dated by 2040
Kevin has held the top-100 across 7 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
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 Kaiden and Kevin 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 Kaiden and Kevin?
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.
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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.
Lists these names appear on
- Names far more common than their rank admits
- Names ending in -den / -don
- Midcentury modern: tomorrow's comeback bets
- Baby Boomer names (born 1946–1964)
- all guides
Where Kaiden and Kevin each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Kaiden or Kevin — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Kaiden or Kevin?
- Kevin, in 2025: Kevin ranked #221 with 1,628 babies; Kaiden ranked #237 with 1,476 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Kaiden or Kevin?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Kaiden moved down 98 places; Kevin moved down 64 places.
- Which is the older name, Kaiden or Kevin?
- Kaiden entered the US charts in 1992; Kevin entered the US charts in 1912. On the American record, Kevin is the older name.
- How many people are named Kaiden and Kevin?
- About 52,000 people named Kaiden are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 1,053,000 people named Kevin are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Kaidens or Kevins in the classroom?
- Kaiden will almost certainly be the only one in school. Kevin 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
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