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The popular name Brayden is pronounced BRAY-den. The origing could be Irish, English, or Gaelic. In Ireland, O'Bradain is a surname, and means descendent of Braden. The Irish word Braden means "brave." In English, Braden means "broad hillside," while in Gaelic the word "Braden" refers to Salmon.

The name Brayden has historically been one of the less-popular boy's names, but is now rising in popularity. Brayden broke into the top 1000 names in 1991, and has risen steadily. It was ranked 80th in 2005 and 79th on the 2006 list of most popular boy's names, according to the Social Security Administration. Brayden has only been in the top 100 names in the past three years in the United States, but it is much more popular in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand.

Unlike many names, Brayden is still enjoying its newcomer status. However, there are some famous people with the given name or surname of Brayden, or one of its variants. Brayden Looper is a baseball player, and there was a character Brayden for a while on "All My Children." Brayson, very close to Brayden, is the name of the son of singer Billy Ray Cyrus. Brayden Bell (Born Sept. 4, 1986 in Salt Lake City, Utah) Band Brayden Coombs both play NCAA basketball. Brayden Bozak is a young golfing phenomenon. This 3-year-old from Colorado has already been featured on the news, and has his sights set on taking over for Tiger Woods a few years down the road. Brayden Irwin plays for Vermont men's hockey. Jamie Brayden is an up-and-coming singer and performer.

In fiction, there have been a few Brayden or Braden characters. There was a Brayden character on two episodes of the TV show "Dark Angel." One episode title, in 2001, was "Medium for a Message." The other episode was ""Exposure" from 2002. There is also a Brayden character in the movie "Slapshot," the 1936 western "Border Caballero," and "So Young the Savage Land."

There are some other associations with the name of Brayden. Brayden Automation Corp. is a company that sells Energy Saver demand control products, designed to reduce the energy demand of such systems as heating and cooling. Brayden Beach Academy is a school. Brayden Olson is a photography company, Brayden Books is a publishing company, and Brayden Brook is a brook in Michigan.

Brayden can be feminine or masculine. It is more common as a boy's name than a girl's name. Other spellings include Bradon, Braden, Bradan, Braydon, Braiden, Bradon, and Braidan. Similar names include Brayton and the aforementioned Brayson.

There are no famous places named Brayden. There is a small town, however, named Braden, in Tennessee in the United States. There were 271 residents in Braden as of the 2007 census. One of the only celebrities with a child named Brayden is a Singapore actress, Zoe Tay.

One interesting note is that Brayden is part of a trend known as the "Aidan rhyming trend." It has been noticed that male and also female names in the 1990's and 2000's often rhymed with Aidan. Along with Jayden, Caden, and Hayden, Brayden fits this criteria. All of these Aidan rhyming names were popular in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

Learn more about this author, Jennifer Vose.
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