MEANING & HISTORY
What does Aidan mean?
Aidan is the Anglicized form of Irish Aodhán, from older Áedán. The Irish formation is a diminutive of the name Áed, associated with fire.
Little fire is therefore supported by the name’s structure rather than invented from its modern sound. Early Irish saints and rulers bore forms of the name. Later English spellings such as Aidan preserve that origin even when chosen for their sound independently of those historical associations.
References for this explanation
Pronunciation & syllables
Dictionary readings are kept by language. Select the reading that matches your intended pronunciation. Dots show the source’s written divisions; they are not a universal syllable count across languages.
Wiktionary contributors / Kaikki / Wiktextract · CC BY-SA 4.0
Origin and name formation
Language-specific accounts from the dictionary. A shared spelling can have more than one history.
EnglishEtymology & source
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).
A male given name from Irish.; A female given name from Irish of modern usage.
Adapted from Wiktionary contributors via Kaikki/Wiktextract. Source accounts remain in their original English; editorial summaries and filters are adapted. Attribution and downloads
People with the name Aidan
Public figures and other documented namesakes linked by an explicit given-name claim. This is a selection of records, not a popularity ranking.
DOCUMENTED NAMESAKE
Aidan James Mendoza
DOCUMENTED NAMESAKE
Chlod Alejandro
The record establishes the name association, not the person’s intended meaning, pronunciation or ancestry. Descriptions are attributed to Wikidata contributors (CC0).
Use in Philippine-linked records
Wikidata
2
distinct person records with an explicit given-name claim
Community-edited coverage, not a census or birth registry. Examples: Aidan James Mendoza, Chlod Alejandro
PSA · OFFICIAL BIRTH RECORDS
Aidan in the birth records
Exact spelling and stated year in the published name tables. Read the counts as individual snapshots.
Tables included: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024. The 2016 fact sheet lists five names per sex; the later tables include ten. Missing counts are not inferred. Sex categories follow the official tables, independently of dictionary gender labels. Explore the official tables →
Similar names to Aidan
Names with a similar opening or ending, ordered by spelling distance. Similar spelling does not imply the same meaning or origin.
Names in this collection
- Adan♂Unaccented form of Adán or Adam; man
- Adán♂Man or humankind, linked with earth in Genesis
- Aida♀Name of Verdi’s heroine; also related to Arabic Ayda
- Aída♀Spanish Ayda/Aida; returning or visitor in Arabic
- Dan♂He judged; also a familiar form of Daniel
- Dandan♂Repeated familiar form of Daniel or Roldan
- Aileen♀Variant of Eileen, from Irish Eibhlín
- Aimee♀Beloved; related to French Aimée
What rhymes with Aidan?
Matches share a dictionary-supplied rhyme key in the stated language. Check the recorded reading; another language or accent can change the rhyme.
Explore Aidan further
Follow the sources
- Wikidata given-name item Q1173883 — Aidan (opens in a new tab)
Given-name identity, native labels, language associations and explicit class where present; not lexical meaning or population frequency.
- Wikidata — Aidan James Mendoza (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name claim P735 linking to Q1173883 and citizenship claim P27 linking to Philippines Q928; community-edited evidence, not a civil-registry record.
- Wikidata — Chlod Alejandro (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name claim P735 linking to Q1173883 and citizenship claim P27 linking to Philippines Q928; community-edited evidence, not a civil-registry record.
- Wiktionary contributors — Aidan (English) (opens in a new tab)
Language-specific given-name etymology; shared spelling does not prove every bearer has this origin.
- Behind the Name — Aidan (opens in a new tab)
Consulted account of the name’s formation, relevant root elements, or explicitly linked base name.
- Behind the Name — Aodhán (opens in a new tab)
Consulted account of the name’s formation, relevant root elements, or explicitly linked base name.