Jayden or Holly, you may know both

by Abigail Caspari abbey.caspari@dailypost.co.nz
Rotorua mother Miranda Byford thought she was being original calling her baby boy Jayden.

But the name was the 14th most popular boy's name nationally last year and also proved a favourite in Rotorua.

Jayden Holdaway, born in January last year, was among several Jaydens born in Rotorua last year. Names starting with Jay were popular, with other names like Jayda, Jaymee and Jaydee bestowed on those entering the world.

Miss Byford and dad Paul Holdaway had two boys' names to choose from - Cory and Jayden.

"It wasn't until we saw him ... We didn't know if we were having a boy or girl. We had two boys' names and two girls names ... When I saw him he looked like a Jayden," Miss Byford said.

Jayden is derived from the Hebrew name Jadon, meaning thankful or God has heard.

Miss Byford said they didn't choose the name because of its meaning but liked the fact Jayden had two syllables.

"We didn't want anything too long. At that stage we didn't know anyone else named Jayden. It was out of a baby names book. We hoped to be original but obviously not."

Probably the most famous person named Jayden is the son of Britney Spears and Kevin Federline.

Another name as popular as Jayden in Rotorua for boys was Luke.

A survey of last year's 120 birth notices in The Daily Post as well as those births staff at the newspaper knew of revealed Benjamin and Daniel were also popular boy's names.

There was no clear winner in the popularity stakes for the girls but some of the favourite names included Holly, Emma, Peyton, Ruby and Summer.

Among the more creative names were Ludmila, Taonga, Denzel, Quiano, Sterling, Laris, Liara and Brylee.

There were a few children bestowed with double-barrelled names including Manaia-Grace, Thayo-Matisse and Tawhiri-Hira. Old style names like William, Jack, Victoria, Isabella, Isobel and Charlotte also proved favourites.