Aidan

What Aidan means

Means “fire”

Name of an Irish saint, Anglicized from Irish Aodhán and Scottish Gaelic Aodhan, diminutives of Aodh (literally "fire", the name of a Celtic sun god).

Source: Wiktionary, “Aidan” (revision 93764782), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Aidan?

US: Falling: down from #185 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #138 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2003, when 10,067 boys got the name (#39 that year). First in the US records in 1936.

How common

• About 1 in 1,638 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 1,590 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 517 baby boys in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in DC (2.77 per 1,000 boys), RI (2.24 per 1,000 boys), MA (1.89 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Aidan is #326 in the US and #265 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.2% of US babies named Aidan were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Aiden5,046 US · 298 E&W
• Ayden1,343 US · 119 E&W
• Adan625 US · 10 E&W
• Eiden558 US · 13 E&W
• Eitan256 US · 4 E&W
• Aden224 US · 25 E&W
• Aydin147 US · 83 E&W
• Eidan187 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

Spelling variants on Wiktionary

• Aden
• Aiden
• Ayden
• Aydan

Listed as alternative forms on Wiktionary.

If you like Aidan

Boys

• Gavin#303Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #70 in 2015, #303 in 2025
• Ivan#162Same root as John, possibly meaning “God is gracious”^*
• Tristan#309“riot”^*
• Connor#166“lover of hounds”^*
• Bryce#357Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 2000, with 4,319 babies; 919 in 2025
• Owen#31Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #31 vs #170 in 2025

For a sister

• Kira#385Editor’s note Down from #361 in 2015 to #385 in 2025 in the US
• Ashlynn#980Variant of Ashlyn, meaning “dream, vision”^*
• Aileen#799Variant of Eileen, possibly meaning “radiance, beauty”^*
• Allie#569Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #255 in 2015, #569 in 2025
• Anya#375Editor’s note Up from #550 in 2015 to #375 in 2025 in the US
• Alana#140Form of Elon, meaning “oak tree”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Irish & Celtic, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Aidan’s. Rank is US 2025.