Raiden
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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.
How popular is Raiden around the world?
In the United States, 4,888 babies were named Raiden between 2020 and 2025.
Raiden is on the official records of the United States, South Australia, New Zealand, Canada, England and Wales, Austria, Argentina and Brazil.
United States
1 in 4,500
In the United States, 4,888 babies were named Raiden between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Raiden peaked in the 2010s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
South Australia
1 in 4,6002017
In South Australia, 3 boys were registered as Raiden in 2017.
In South Australia, 1 girl was registered as Raiden in 2017.
The count never rose above 5 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
New Zealand
1 in 4,800
In New Zealand, 12 boys named Raiden were registered in 2025.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time
Canada
1 in 6,800
In Canada, 54 boys named Raiden were born in 2024, the 524th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
England and Wales
1 in 18,000
In England and Wales, 33 boys named Raiden were born in 2025, the 934th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Austria
1 in 76,000
In Austria, 1 boy named Raiden was born in 2025, ranked 1,842nd among boys that year, spellings that differ only by special characters counted together.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
Argentina
1 in 330,000
In Argentina, 2 newborns were given the name Raiden in 2024.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024
Brazil
At the 2022 census, 37 people in Brazil were named Raiden, ranked 81,857th, with a median age of 13.
People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
Scotland
last on record 2023
Raiden is not on the 2024 record for Scotland, where spellings under 3 in total are suppressed at source.
The count never rose above 4 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
Not on the record in Spain, Mexico City, Puerto Rico, Ireland and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Montevideo record for 1940 to 2011: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
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.
Keep exploring
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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