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 [ 2 syll. ai-dan, aid-an ] The boy name Aidan is pronounced as EYDahN KEY. Aidan is used chiefly in the English, Irish, and Scottish languages, and its origin is Celtic. The name's meaning is little fire. Derived from the element 'aed' meaning fire. The name is Anglicized from the Gaelic Aodán, itself a diminutive of Aodh. It was borne by several early Irish saints, including Saint Aidan of Lindisfarne (-651), a key contributor in the conversion of Christians in Northumbria; due to his fame, the name has long been used England, Scotland, and Ireland. In recent times, various forms of the name have been adopted by parents to imply pride in their Irish roots, as well as for the currently very popular '-an' or '-en' ending syllables. The name Eithne (Irish and Scottish) is the female form of Aidan. Adan (Italian, Spanish, and English), Aden (English), Aeddan (Welsh), and Edan (Irish, Scottish, and English) are variants of Aidan. Other forms of Aidan include the pet form Adie (Scottish), and the variant spellings Aedan (Gaelic), Aiden (English), Aidyn (English), Aydan (English), Ayden (English), and Aydin (English). See also the related forms, Aodh (Irish and Scottish) and Aodán (Irish and Scottish). Aidan is a popular baby name for boys, and it is also considered fairly trendy. The name's popularity has been growing since the 1980s; before that, it was of very light use only. Its usage peaked modestly in 2003 with 0.480% of baby boys being given the name Aidan. It ranked at #39 then. In 2008, its usage was 0.355% and its ranking #59, and it was the 2nd most popular after Aiden (English), among all boy names in its group. In 2008, the name was twice as popular as Aidan. Baby names that sound like Aidan include Adan (Italian, Spanish, and English), Adán (Spanish), Aden (English), Aiden (English), Aydan (English), Ayden (English), Aedan (Gaelic), Aeddan (Welsh), Aidyn (English), Aydin (English), Edin (English and Albanian), Edmon (English and Russian), Edon (Albanian), Edwin (English and German), Edwinn (English), Edwyn (English), Etan (English and Hebrew), Edini (Albanian), Edoni (Albanian), and Etienne (French). KEY: Pronunciation for Aidan: EY as in "ate (EY.T)" ; D as in "dee (D.IY)" ; AH as in "hut (HH.AH.T)" ; N as in "knee (N.IY)"   |
