FastNamesAiden
Irish and Celtic name meaning "Anglicized form of Irish Aodhán, a diminutive of Aodh ('fire'), signifying 'little fire' or 'fiery one'.". Ranked 62nd for boys in 2025.
Meaning and origin of Aiden
Anglicized form of Irish Aodhán, a diminutive of Aodh ('fire'), signifying 'little fire' or 'fiery one'.
Linguistically, Aiden is classified under Irish and Celtic naming traditions. It is typically pronounced "AY-dən".
Popularity and ranking
In official US Social Security birth records from 1880 through 2025, Aiden has been given to a total of 257,765 boys. It has also been given to 2,147 girls.
Peak year: Aiden reached its highest relative share among boys in 2011, when 15,520 babies received the name (8,172 per million births).
All-time best rank: 9th place, first achieved in 2010.
Recent standing (2025): Ranked 62nd with 5,046 births. Ten years earlier in 2015, it ranked 13th (down 49 spots).
Busiest decade: More boys were named Aiden in the 2010s than in any other decade (129,675 births).
| Decade | Recorded births |
|---|---|
| 1970s | 25 |
| 1980s | 76 |
| 1990s | 1,642 |
| 2000s | 83,554 |
| 2010s | 129,675 |
| 2020s | 42,793 |
Source: Social Security Administration, national baby name data, data through 2025. Names given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year aren't published, so totals are a little lower than actual births.
Where Aiden is most common in the US
Accounting for when Aiden was in fashion nationally, it has been most heavily concentrated in the following states (measured against the expected rate from each state's births):
- Vermont: 1.5 times the national rate (415 births since 1910).
- Delaware: 1.5 times the national rate (815 births since 1910).
- Hawaii: 1.4 times the national rate (946 births since 1910).
- Wyoming: 1.4 times the national rate (377 births since 1910).
- Rhode Island: 1.4 times the national rate (841 births since 1910).
Source: Social Security Administration, baby names by state, data through 2025. Names given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a state in a year aren't published, so totals are a little lower than actual births.
How many people have the name Aiden?
About 255,000 living American boys and men share the name Aiden. Additionally, an estimated 2,100 living American girls and women share the name.
The median age of an American named Aiden is 14 years old.
Estimated from Social Security Administration records (1880–2025) and official SSA cohort mortality tables.
History of the name Aiden
Aiden is the modern Anglicized form of the ancient Gaelic personal name Aodhán, a hypocoristic diminutive of Aodh, the Celtic mythological god of fire and sun. In ancient Irish tradition, fire symbolized warmth, spiritual vitality, heroic passion, and divine illumination, making names derived from Aodh beloved among early royalty and chieftains across Munster and Ulster.
The name entered Christian history through Saint Aidan of Lindisfarne (died 651 AD), an Irish monk from Iona who founded the monastery at Lindisfarne and converted Northumbria to Christianity. Renowned for his humility, gentleness, and tireless service to the poor, Saint Aidan established the name as a revered holy symbol throughout early medieval Britain and Ireland.
In late twentieth- and early twenty-first-century America, Aiden experienced an explosive meteoric rise. Propelled into national consciousness through media exposure, it surged from outside the top 500 in 1995 into the national top twenty by 2008, holding top-twenty standing for over a decade. It also sparked an entire generation of rhyming names (Brayden, Jayden, Hayden), defining millennial and Generation Z naming trends.
Notable people named Aiden
- Aiden English (1987–), American professional wrestler and commentator
- Aiden Grimshaw (1991–), English singer-songwriter
- Aiden McGeady (1986–), Former professional footballer for the Republic of Ireland
- Aiden Turner (1977–), British actor known for All My Children
Variants and related names
Spelling variants
Diminutives and nicknames
Related names
Sources and references
- Patrick Hanks, Kate Hardcastle, Flavia Hodges. A Dictionary of First Names (2006), p. 4.
- E. G. Withycombe. The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names (1977), p. 8.
- Douglas Harper. Online Etymology Dictionary. Reference link.