Aidan
| Pronunciation | /ˈeɪdən/ |
|---|---|
| Gender | Male or Female |
| Language(s) | English |
Aidan or Aiden are the primary anglicisations of the Irish given name Aodhán and the Scottish Gaelic given name Aodhàn.[1]
Etymology and spelling
The name is derived from the name Aodhán, which is a pet form of Aodh.[2] It can be used as a masculine or feminine given name. The personal name Aodh means "fiery" and was the name of a Celtic sun god (see Aed).[3]
Formerly common only in Ireland and Scotland, the name and its variants have become popular in England, the United States, and Canada. Aidan has been the 57th most popular name in the United States since the start of the year 2000, bestowed on over 62,000 boys, while Aiden ranking 66th, has been used on over 51,000 boys. Other variants are a bit less popular, such as Hayden 88th, Ayden 189th, Aden 333rd, Aydan 808th, and Aydin 960th, according to the United States Social Security Database.[4] "Aidan/Aiden" was the most popular boys' name in Canada in 2007.[5]
The spellings Aydan, Aydin, or Aden are all more common with Turkish or Arabic origins, and have a different pronunciation.
Its popularity is also reflected in the occurrence of similar-sounding names such as Braden, Caden, Hayden, and Jayden.[6]
Aidan (or any reasonable variant) as a girl's name does not appear in the top one thousand names for girls from the same database, although it has occasionally been used for girls.
Some sources suggest that the feminine equivalent of Aidan is Eithne, which has the same meaning.[7]
Given name
Middle Ages
- Áedán mac Gabráin (ruled c. 574–609), King of Dál Riata, sometimes anglicised as Aidan of Dalriada
- Aeddan ap Blegywryd (died 1018), Welsh prince of Gwynedd
- Saint Máedóc of Ferns (550–632), also known as Áedan
- Saint Aidan of Lindisfarne (died 651), Irish missionary
Modern times
- Aidan Baker (born 1974), Canadian musician
- Aidan Banks, English guitarist
- Aidan Browne, Northern Irish television presenter
- Aiden Byrne, English chef
- Aidan Chambers (born 1934), English author
- Aidan Cooney, Irish television presenter
- Aidan Crawley (1908–1993), British politician
- Aidan J. David (born 1981), English actor
- Aidan Davis (born 1997), English dancer
- Aidan Delgado (born 1981), American soldier and anti-war activist
- Aidan Devine, Canadian film actor
- Francis Aidan Gasquet (1846–1929), English cardinal
- Aidan Gillen (born 1968), Irish actor
- Aidan Gillett (born 1986), Australian actor
- Aidan Girt, Canadian drummer
- Aidan Gould (born 1996), American actor
- Aiden Grimshaw, English musician
- Aiden Guerra, Australian rugby league player
- Aidan Hartley (born 1965), British author and journalist
- Aiden J. Harvey (born 1944), English comedian
- Aidan Heavey (born 1953), Irish businessman
- Aidan Higgins (born 1927), Irish writer
- Aidan Hughes (born 1956), English artist
- Aidan Kelly (born 1940), American Wiccan
- John Aidan Liddell (1888–1915), English pilot
- Aiden MacCarthy (1914–1992), Irish doctor
- Aidan Carl Matthews (born 1956), Irish writer
- Aidan McAnespie (1965–1988), Irish victim of the Troubles
- Aidan McArdle (born 1970), Irish actor
- Aidan McLindon (born 1980), Australian politician
- Aidan Mitchell (born 1993), American actor
- Aidan Moffat (born 1973), Scottish musician
- Aidan Nichols (born 1948), English academic and priest
- Aidan Power (born 1979), Irish television personality
- Aidan Quinn (born 1959), American actor
- Aiden Wilson Tozer (1897–1963), American preacher
- Aidan Turner (born 1983), Irish actor
- Aiden Turner (born 1977), English actor
- Aidan White (journalist) (born 1951), British journalist
- Aidan Zammit (born 1965), Maltese musician
Sports
- Aiden Blizzard (born 1984), Australian cricketer
- Aiden Butterworth (born 1961), English football player
- Aiden Cairns, Australian rugby player
- Aidan Coleman (born 1988), Irish jockey
- Aidan Collins (English footballer) (born 1986)
- Aidan Daly (born 1978), New Zealand basketball player
- Aidan Davison (born 1968), British footballer
- Aidan Downes (born 1988), Irish footballer
- Aidan Fennelly, Irish gaelic footballer
- Aidan Fogarty (born 1982), Irish hurling player
- Aidan Fogarty (hurler) (born 1958), Irish hurling player
- Aidan Kearney (born 1984), Irish hurling player
- Aidan Kirk (born 1986), New Zealand rugby player
- Aidan Lynch (footballer) (born 1977), Irish footballer
- Aidan McCaffrey (born 1957), English footballer
- Aiden McGeady (born 1986), Irish footballer
- Aidan Murphy (born 1967), English footballer and coach
- Aidan Newhouse (born 1972), English footballer
- Aiden O'Brien, Irish footballer
- Aidan O'Brien (born 1969), Irish horse-racing trainer
- Aidan O'Kane (born 1979), Northern Irish footballer
- Aidan O'Keefe (footballer), Irish football player
- Aidan O'Mahony (born 1982), Irish gaelic footballer
- Aiden Palmer (born 1987), English football player
- Aidan Price (born 1981), Irish footballer
- Aiden Tolman (born 1988), Australian rugby player
- Aidan Walsh (born 1990), Irish hurling and Gaelic football player
- Aidan White (footballer) (born 1991), English footballer
Fictional characters
- "Aidan" (The Inside episode), the title of episode 8 of the television series The Inside
- Aidan, a character in The Secret of Kells
- Aiden, fictional character in Blood and Chocolate (novel) by Annette Curtis Klause
- Aidan, fictional character in the computer game Guild Wars (series)
- Aidan Bok, fictional character in the Star Wars novel Galaxy of Fear: Ghost of a Jedi by John Whitman
- Aidan Brosnan, fictional character played by Sean Maguire in the television series EastEnders
- Aiden Burn, fictional female character in the television series CSI: NY
- Aiden "Danny" Coughlin, fictional character in the novel The Given Day by Dennis Lehane
- Aiden Dennison, fictional character in the television series South of Nowhere
- Aidan Devane, fictional character played by Aiden Turner in the television series All My Children
- Aiden Falconer, fictional character in the On the Run series of novels by Gordon Korman
- Aiden Ford, fictional character in the television series Stargate Atlantis
- Aidan of Gwynedd, fictional character in the Deryni novels by Katherine Kurtz
- Aidan Haldane (Daniel Draper), fictional character in the Deryni novels by Katherine Kurtz
- Aidan Keller, fictional character played by David Dorfman in the film The Ring
- Aidan Kerrigan, fictional character in the novel The Jem Star by Karen Drury
- Aiden Lucas, fictional character in the television series Ghost Whisperer
- Aidan Lynch, fictional character in the novel Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
- Aidan Savage, fictional character in the novel Dark Gold by Christine Feehan
- Aidan Shaw, fictional character played by John Corbett in the television series Sex and the City
- Aidan Bedwyn, fictional character in the Slightly series by Mary Balogh
- Aidan McCollin, fictional vampire from Syfy series Being Human
- Aidan, the hero of Diablo I, the Dark Wanderer in Diablo II
See also
References
- ^ "Aidan". Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 31 October 2009.
- ^ "Aodhán". Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 31 October 2009. [dead link]
- ^ "Aodh". Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 31 October 2009.
- ^ United States Social Security Database.
- ^ http://www.babycenter.ca/pregnancy/naming/top2007/
- ^ Rosenkrantz, Linda, and Satran, Pamela Redmond (2007). The Baby Name Bible. St. Martin's Griffin. ISBN 978-0-312-35220-2, p. 343
- ^ Macleod, Iseabail and Freedman, Terry: The Wordsworth Dictionary of First Names, Wordsworth Editions, 1995, ISBN 1-85326-366-4, p.74.
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