The Baby Name Wizard

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Contribute to, or edit, this collection of community wisdom on the name Aiden!

Comments and insights on the name Aiden: | Edit

Note that the traditional spelling is Aidan.

I don't know which spelling is more traditional, but I do know that Aiden is #15 on the Social Security baby names list to Aidan's #59.

The name Aiden is #7 on the list of top 100 cool baby boy names in the baby name book "Cool Names" by Pamela Redmond Satran and Linda Rosenkrantz.

This name is extremely popular with its various spellings. Aiden is #15(15,411 babies in the US) on the Social Security baby name list of 2008, Aidan is #59 (7,628 babies), Ayden is #91 (5,010 babies), Aden is #254 (1,368 babies), Adan is #299 (1,101 babies), Aydan is #567 (451 babies), Aydin is #627 (387 babies), and Aidyn is #699 (332 babies). Those were all the spellings I could think of that showed up. If you add them together that's 30,688 babies. The #1 name of Jacob was only given to 22,272 babies. Of course, no alternate spellings are added together on the SSA list so this is probably the case with multiple names on both the boy's and girl's side. This is the only one I've checked though because I saw that Aiden, Aidan, and Ayden were all in the top 100.

Personal experiences with the name Aiden: | Edit

I am hoping to name my first son Aiden. Yes, I know that the traditional spelling is "Aidan," and I like that just fine, but I like Aiden a little bit better.

Because the original version of Aidan is Áedán or Aodhán, I believe that the Aiden variation is a typo that has caught on in North America amongst people who have no Irish heritage and have not researched their son's name.

LD: Actually, the Aiden spelling is typical in Ireland. Because the name is originally Gaelic, as you pointed out, the translation of vowels to English is somewhat flexible. I think the formula is you count them up and throw a few out until you have a manageable number. But that might be the pub rules.

example is Aiden McGready, a star athlete in football (soccer) who plays for the Republic of Ireland. He's originally Scottish. http://www.aidenmcgeadyofficialwebsite.com/photo/18214.Aiden%20McGeady,%...

We spell our son's name Aayden
Other random examples are:
St. Aiden's - a Bed & Breakfast in Dublin http://hotels.lonelyplanet.com/ireland/dublin-r1975358/st-aidens-p1263313/
Aiden Murphy, a lawyer in Dublin http://www.hbc.ie/dublin/people/index.php?p_id=9&action=profile
More lawyers, this one from Limerick http://www.goldenpages.ie/Solicitors/Aiden_Barry_Solicitors/IE_376203_1
Here is an Aiden big on medical device innovation. From Galway http://www.faqs.org/patents/inv/708745

I guess you get the point. These lads were all born way before any American trend for the name Aiden/Aidan lit.

Nicknames for Aiden: | Edit

DENNY
Aid/Ade
Aids
Aidey/Aidy/Ady (Ay-dee)
Aido

Meanings and history of the name Aiden: | Edit

FAMOUS HARDCORE BAND!

Aiden means little fire.

Famous real-life people named Aiden: | Edit

Band

Aiden in song, story & screen: | Edit

There is currently a popular character named "Aiden" on "All My Children".
Aiden Lucas, the 5-year-old son of Jim Clancy and Melinda Gordon in the popular televison show "Ghost Whisperer", has the same abilities as his mother to talk to the dead.
There was a female character named Aiden Burn on CSI:NY.
Aiden Ford was a recuuring character on "Stargate: Atlantis".