Aidan (name)
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Look up Aidan, aidan, or Aiden in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
| Aidan, Aiden, Aedan | |
|---|---|
| Pronunciation | /ˈeɪdən/ |
| Gender | Male |
| Language(s) | English |
| Origin | |
| Language(s) | Irish and Scottish Gaelic |
| Meaning | born of fire/the fiery one |
| Region of origin | Ireland |
| Popularity | see popular names |
Aidan, Aiden and Aedan are the main anglicisations of the Irish male 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] The personal name Aodh means "fiery" and/or "bringer of fire" 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]
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
- Adam, Earl of Angus (ruled from before c. 1189)
- 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 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 league 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 league player
- 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'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 league player
- Aidan Walsh (born 1990), Irish hurling and Gaelic football player
Fictional characters
- "Aidan" (The Inside episode), the title of episode 8 of the television series The Inside
- 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 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 Ford, fictional character in the television series Stargate Atlantis
- 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 Waite, fictional character in the Syfy drama/horror Being Human
See also
References
- ↑ "Aidan". Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 31 October 2009.
- ↑ "Aodhán". Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 31 October 2009.
- ↑ "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.