Raiden
Meaning
name of the Japanese god of thunder and lightning
The story
Raiden is the Japanese god of thunder and lightning, his name built from rai, thunder, and den, lightning, a storm captured in two syllables. In the old belief he was a fearsome protector, drumming the thunder across the sky, and his image guarded temple gates against evil. For younger parents the name arrives already charged, carried into global pop culture by video games where Raiden appears as a thunder god and a lightning-fast warrior. As an American given name it is genuinely modern, climbing fast and reading as current as it has ever been, part of a broad love of strong names drawn from Japanese and from myth. Electric, cinematic and easy to shout, Raiden hands a child a storm god and a hero in one, a name that sounds exactly as powerful as it means.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Raiden peaked in the 2010s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
37 people · the #81,857 first name in Brazil · median age 13
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Raiden
Most people given the name Raiden in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Raiden deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Raiden truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Raiden fits with your family’s names and surname.
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