Aiden
- Pronunciation
- [Ai-den]
- Gender
- Male
- Meaning
- Fiery.
- Origin
- Irish
About the Name Aiden
Aiden (also spelled Aidan, Aydan, Aedan, and several other variants) is the modern English form of the Irish Gaelic Aodhán, a diminutive of Aodh meaning "fire." In Irish mythology, Aodh was a name of the Celtic sun god, and across early Irish naming traditions Aodh produced numerous saints — including Saint Aidan of Lindisfarne (d. 651), an Irish missionary monk who founded the monastery of Lindisfarne off the coast of Northumberland and is credited with the Christian re-evangelization of northern England.
For most of the past millennium Aidan was an obscure Irish-Gaelic name, occasionally borne in Ireland but virtually unknown in the broader English-speaking world. The contemporary explosion is one of the most striking modern naming-trend events: the name went from outside the US top 1000 in 1992 to the top 25 by the late 2000s — and then triggered an entire phonetic family of names that became collectively known as the "-aden cluster" (Jaden, Caden, Brayden, Hayden, Kayden), all of which surged together.
The name's appeal is its compact warmth: two syllables, soft Celtic origin, modern enough to feel current but with genuine historical depth. Common spelling variants split US births roughly between Aiden (most common modern form), Aidan (more historically accurate Anglicization), and Ayden (a more recent re-spelling). Nicknames are scarce — Ade, Aid, and Adi occasionally — and the original Gaelic form Aodhán remains in use in Ireland. Other international cousins include the Welsh Aeddan.
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration name data, 1880–2024 (methodology). By Marvin Tang.
Quick Facts About Aiden
US Popularity History (2000–2025)
Annual US births named Aiden by gender, from US Social Security Administration records. Peak year: 2009 with 16,029 boys named Aiden (boy rank #12 that year).
Where it stands today: in 2025, ranked #62 for boys (5,046 US births). That's 50 places below its 2009 peak.
Source: US Social Security Administration. Limitations: US birth-certificate data only; names appearing fewer than 5 times in a given year are suppressed for privacy; spelling variants are counted separately. For names that ranked outside the US top 100 before year 2000, only the years they reached the top 100 are shown — the chart may have gaps for less-popular historical names.
Paste the snippet below on any HTML page. Includes a credit link back to 9BabyNames — please keep it intact.
Where in the US Is Aiden Most Popular?
Average boy-name rank within each state across 2016–2025 SSA records. A lower number means the name appears closer to the top of that state's boys-name rankings — a per-capita measure that isn't biased toward large states. For Aiden the strongest states are Mississippi, Georgia, Hawaii.
Strongest boys-name states
| # | State | Avg rank | Births |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mississippi | #16 | 820 |
| 2 | Georgia | #17 | 2,968 |
| 3 | Hawaii | #19 | 281 |
| 4 | New York | #20 | 5,719 |
| 5 | California | #21 | 11,563 |
| 6 | New Mexico | #23 | 493 |
| 7 | Nevada | #23 | 792 |
| 8 | New Jersey | #24 | 2,419 |
| 9 | Maryland | #24 | 1,480 |
| 10 | Louisiana | #25 | 1,074 |
Weakest boys-name states
| # | State | Avg rank | Births |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Hampshire | #76 | 182 |
| 2 | Montana | #72 | 152 |
| 3 | Vermont | #72 | 66 |
| 4 | South Dakota | #70 | 156 |
| 5 | Alaska | #64 | 142 |
| 6 | Nebraska | #63 | 367 |
| 7 | West Virginia | #58 | 352 |
| 8 | North Dakota | #56 | 176 |
| 9 | Maine | #55 | 209 |
| 10 | Iowa | #52 | 572 |
Source: SSA state-level baby-name dataset 2016–2025. States with fewer than 3 years of data for Aiden in this window are excluded. Births < 5 in a given state-year are suppressed by SSA for privacy.
Variant Forms
Looking for names like Aiden?
A dedicated page with 60+ related names — spelling variants, rhymes, alliterations, same-origin matches, and shared meaning concepts — lives at its own URL so each kind of similarity gets a deeper treatment than fits here.
Compare Aiden to Other Popular Names
Side-by-side popularity charts and crossover years for Aiden against today's most popular boys-name peers (top 8 by US births in the last 10 years of SSA records).
Aiden Baby Name Ideas
- Should First and Middle Names Come From the Same Language or Origin? Mixing With a Clear Family Story
- Should Sibling Names Share an Ending Sound? Building a Set Without Making a Chorus
- When Sibling Names Look Too Similar in Writing: Preventing Everyday Mix-Ups
- How to Choose Between a Standard and an Alternative Baby Name Spelling
- Two-Middle-Name Baby Names: How to Build a Full Name That Still Moves
- Heartstopper Baby Names: Soft, Current & Very British Picks from Alice Oseman's World
- Great Gatsby & Jazz Age Baby Names: Flappers, Speakeasies, and the 100-Year Echo
- Sherlock Holmes and Victorian Baby Names: The Great-Grandparent Comeback, From Baker Street to the Birth Certificate
- Names That Sound Expensive: The Sound Science Behind a Refined Name
- Slavic Mythology Baby Names: Gods, Goddesses & Folklore
- Bluey Baby Names: Which Heeler-World Names Are Actually Wearable
- Percy Jackson Baby Names: Demigod Picks That Wear Like Everyday Names
- Sibling Names That Go With Olivia and Liam: A Guide to Names That Sound Like Family
- Norse Mythology Baby Names: Gods, Goddesses, and Viking-Age Picks That Still Wear Well
- 106 Legendary Viking Baby Names and Their Powerful Meanings
- Short and Sweet Baby Names for Boys and Girls: Meaningful Names with Big Impact
- Denver Baby Names: A Blend of Modern Favorites and Nature-Inspired Charm
- Exploring Top City Baby Names Across the U.S.: A Trendy Look at Local Favorites
- 70 Energy Baby Names for Boys and Girls: Names That Spark Strength and Vitality
- Brittany Baby Names: Names Inspired by the French Region of Brittany