Fun Facts About the Name Kaidan
- More than 1 thousand babies named Kaidan: U.S. records list 1,206 babies given the name Kaidan from 1880 through 2025. Even 72 girls received the name Kaidan - about 1 girl for every 16 boys.
What Does the Name Kaidan Mean?
Kaidan is best known as a Japanese word rather than as a traditional given name. In Japanese it is written 怪談 and means "ghost story" or "strange tale." The compound joins 怪 (kai), "strange, mysterious, uncanny," with 談 (dan), "talk, conversation, tale." It labels a kind of storytelling about ghosts and the supernatural, so the Japanese meaning is a genre term rather than a description of a person.
As a personal name in English, Kaidan has no single documented derivation. It is commonly listed beside Kaden, Kaiden, and Aidan because it shares their sounds and spelling patterns, and some name lists give it a meaning such as "fighter" or "battle" by treating it as a form of Kaden. Similar sound is not proof of a shared origin, and the etymologies proposed for those neighboring names are themselves disputed, so the connection to Kaidan is a claim about related names rather than an established fact about this one.
Kaidan Name History & Origins
怪談 is an old Japanese compound. Earlier forms of the language had a labialized kwa sound, and the word was written in roman letters as kwaidan. Lafcadio Hearn's 1904 collection Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things and Masaki Kobayashi's 1964 film Kwaidan both preserve that older spelling. In present-day Japanese the word is pronounced kaidan.
In the Edo period the term was used for gatherings at which people told one hundred supernatural tales, a practice called hyaku monogatari kaidankai; a candle was put out after each story. Those sessions gave printed collections of ghost stories a familiar frame, and kaidan stayed the standard label for the genre in later Japanese books and films.
Kaidan is also used as a personal name in English. One of its best-known fictional uses is Kaidan Alenko, a crew member in the Mass Effect video game series that began in 2007. A prominent use in a game or a book is not the same thing as the name's earliest documented use, and Kaidan's use as a given name is not tied to a single source.
How Popular is the Name Kaidan?
Kaidan has historically been an exceptionally rare given name in the United States, remaining well outside the national mainstream. It saw its highest recorded annual births in 2010. Its best rank was #1,854 in 2011.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | #12,162 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 2016 | #17,487 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2014 | #15,542 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2013 | #17,874 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2012 | #18,136 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2008 | #9,759 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 2007 | #11,204 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 2006 | #10,996 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 2004 | #15,022 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2003 | #16,979 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #5,995 | 15 | 0.0009% |
| 2024 | #5,133 | 19 | 0.0011% |
| 2023 | #4,970 | 20 | 0.0012% |
| 2022 | #2,887 | 44 | 0.0025% |
| 2021 | #3,538 | 32 | 0.0018% |
| 2020 | #4,078 | 25 | 0.0014% |
| 2019 | #3,299 | 35 | 0.0020% |
| 2018 | #3,336 | 34 | 0.0019% |
| 2017 | #2,773 | 44 | 0.0024% |
| 2016 | #2,397 | 54 | 0.0028% |
| 2015 | #2,247 | 60 | 0.0031% |
| 2014 | #1,896 | 77 | 0.0040% |
| 2013 | #1,889 | 75 | 0.0040% |
| 2012 | #2,194 | 60 | 0.0032% |
| 2011 | #1,854 | 76 | 0.0040% |
| 2010 | #1,874 | 77 | 0.0040% |
| 2009 | #2,042 | 68 | 0.0034% |
| 2008 | #2,736 | 45 | 0.0022% |
| 2007 | #2,321 | 56 | 0.0027% |
| 2006 | #2,300 | 55 | 0.0027% |
| 2005 | #2,172 | 56 | 0.0028% |
| 2004 | #2,551 | 43 | 0.0022% |
| 2003 | #3,488 | 26 | 0.0013% |
| 2002 | #4,606 | 17 | 0.0009% |
| 2001 | #5,848 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 2000 | #7,110 | 9 | 0.0005% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
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How the Name Kaidan Shapes Your Personality and Life?
EXTREMES in fortune, health and spirituality. You are very versatile, idealistic and intuitive. You either enjoy great success or suffer abject misery. The solution is service to others. Use your leadership abilities for humanity and not for self-glorification. You are bold, independent, inquisitive and interested in research. You know what you want and why you want it.
Dependable, very down-to-earth and well grounded, you are always looking for meaningful work, a career where you can take pride in your work and do the best job you are capable of. Your prime desire is to build protected and secure environment at home and at work. You can be very persuasive in achieving goals and gaining objectives. You can be very detailed and well-organized and possess great organizational skills. At times you may appear too stubborn and overly critical to others, but your practical approach to life and productivity makes you one of the most beneficent members of community.
✦ Kaidan's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Kaidan's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.