Braeden
Masculine · “descendant of the salmon”
Braeden is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 13,642 boys against 230 girls since 1880.
Braeden is one of at least four spellings of the same sound, and the Irish surname behind it is Ó Bradáin — descendant of the salmon, which in Irish tradition is the fish that carries all knowledge.
How old is the name Braeden?
Braeden first appears in US birth records in 1973 — 52 years ago. The typical Braeden alive today was born around 2006, making them about 19 years old. About 13,500 people named Braeden are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Braeden most popular?
Braeden peaked in 2005, reaching #322 nationally. Today it ranks #3314, 2,992 places below that high. See the whole 2005 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From bradán to Braeden
The story of Braeden
Ó Bradáin was anglicized as Bradan, Braden and Bradon, and the surname crossed into American given-name use in the late twentieth century. It arrived inside a large sound family — Brandon, Braden, Jayden, Aidan — that generated many spellings at once. The ae spelling appears from the 1990s and peaked around 2007.
Meaningscholars disagree
descendant of the salmon
From the Irish Ó Bradáin, from bradán, 'salmon'. The Salmon of Knowledge gives Fionn mac Cumhaill his wisdom when he burns his thumb cooking it. A separate English route reads a place name meaning 'broad hill'. Both feed the modern name.
How the name formed
- bradán
- Ó Bradáin
- Braden
- Braeden
Related forms: Braden · Braydon · Ó Bradáin
Pronouncing Braeden
BRAY-dun
Two syllables, stress on the first. All the Brad-/Bray-/Brae- spellings are said identically.
Nicknames for Braeden
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1973
- Most boys named
- 20051,004 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #322reached in 2005
- Change vs 2024
- −39.7%35 in 2025, from 58
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Braeden in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Braden in English — spelling variant
- Braydon in English — spelling variant
- Ó Bradáin in Irish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, New York, Texas.
Braedens among us
people named Braeden are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 48,802 born in 2025 was named Braeden
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Ronny test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Braeden's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Ronny climbed just as high around 1943, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Ronny's path sketches the road Braeden is walking now.
Braeden 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 scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Braeden is headed
Braeden is easing off slowly — about 26% fewer babies a year by 2030 if the trend continues.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Braeden beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Braeden in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The Salmon of Knowledge is one of the best images in Irish tradition.
- The ae spelling gives it a Scots and Irish look the others lack.
- Two clean syllables that fit the current sound.
- At least four spellings of the sound are in common use.
- It will be respelled by other people constantly.
- It is closely dated to the 2000s.
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What they receive
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Braeden
Masculine · #3314 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Braedens are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 13,500 people named Braeden are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Braeden in 2025?
- Braeden ranks #3314 among US boy names in 2025, with 35 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Braeden?
- About 1 in every 48,802 US boys born in 2025 was named Braeden — 35 in all.
- Will my child share the name Braeden with classmates?
- Braeden will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Braeden
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Rainier#3314 · Coulter#3314 · Caio#3314 · Kaydon#3314 · Daksh#3314 · Kree#3314 · Calen#3314 · Mathis#3314
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Braeden? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Braeden and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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