Aeden
A masculine name of Scottish origin meaning "little fire".
Name Census estimates that about 1,141 living Americans carry the first name Aeden. It is a predominantly male name (99.4% of registrations). The average person named Aeden today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Aeden births was 2008 (102 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Aeden. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Aeden with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Aeden is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 15 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.1K
~ 1 in 300,398 Americans
Peak year
2008
102 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,228
Tracked since 1998
Census
Aeden in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,060 people with the first name Aeden, which placed it at #11,914 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#11,914
National first-name rank
People counted
1.1K
1,060 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
54.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Aeden
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Aeden is White at 54.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (21.9%) and Two or More Races (9.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Aeden described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Aeden at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White54.0% · 572
- Hispanic or Latino21.9% · 232
- Two or more races9.0% · 95
- Black or African American7.6% · 81
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.2% · 76
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 4
Gender
Gender distribution for Aeden
Out of the 1,152 babies given the name Aeden since 1880, 99.4% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Aeden as a male name
- Ranked #5,228 in 2024
- 18 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2008 (102 births)
Aeden as a female name
- Ranked #13,522 in 2012
- 7 female births in 2012
- Peak: 2012 (7 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Aeden leans strongly male. 1,019 people counted with this name were male (96.3%), compared with 39 female bearers (3.7%).
Popularity
Aeden: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Aeden from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 522 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Aeden by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Aeden during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Aedens live
The SSA's state-level files cover 12 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Aeden, while Ohio, New Jersey, Michigan recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 24 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Aeden
The name Aeden has its origins in the Gaelic language and culture, dating back to the medieval period in Ireland and Scotland. It is derived from the Irish Gaelic word "aodh," which means "fire" or "bale-fire." The name is also sometimes spelled as "Aidan" or "Aedan," reflecting its roots in the Celtic linguistic tradition.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the medieval Irish annals, where it appears as the name of several early Christian saints and scholars. For example, Saint Aidan of Lindisfarne (died 651 CE) was an Irish monk who played a significant role in spreading Christianity among the Anglo-Saxons in northern England.
In the 9th century, the name gained prominence through Aedh Finnliath, who was the High King of Ireland from 862 to 879 CE. He was known for his military campaigns against the Vikings and his efforts to unite the various kingdoms of Ireland under his rule.
During the Middle Ages, the name was also associated with several Scottish kings and nobles. One notable figure was Aedh, Earl of Moray (died 1171 CE), a powerful Scottish nobleman who played a significant role in the power struggles between the Scottish monarchs and the Norman nobility.
In more recent times, the name has been borne by several notable individuals, including:
1. Aeden W. Tressault (1905-1996), an American engineer and inventor who contributed to the development of early computing technologies.
2. Aeden O'Kelly (1920-2009), an Irish actor and playwright known for his work in theater and television.
3. Aeden Gillen (born 1968), an Irish actor best known for his roles in popular TV shows like "Game of Thrones" and "Peaky Blinders."
4. Aeden Byrnes (born 1982), an Australian rules footballer who played for several teams in the Australian Football League (AFL).
5. Aeden O'Connor (born 1987), an Irish professional golfer who has competed on various tours around the world.
The name Aeden continues to be used in various parts of the world, particularly in Ireland, Scotland, and other regions with Celtic cultural influences. Its rich history and associations with notable figures from the past have contributed to its enduring appeal and popularity.
People
Aeden + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Aeden as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Aeden: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Aeden?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,141 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Aeden going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 300,398 US residents.
Is Aeden a common name?
We classify Aeden as "Rare". It ranks above 90.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,152 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Aeden most popular?
The single biggest year for Aeden was 2008, when 102 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Aeden is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Aeden in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,060 people with the name Aeden, or 0.35 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,914 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Aeden in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Aeden?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Aeden leans strongly male. 1,019 people counted with this name were male (96.3%), compared with 39 female bearers (3.7%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Aeden?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Aeden is White at 54.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (21.9%) and Two or More Races (9.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Aeden most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Aeden in the 2020 Census, accounting for 54.0% (572 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Aeden in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Aeden a male name?
Yes, 99.4% of people registered as Aeden in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Aeden still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Aeden in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Aeden can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How common is the name Aeden?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people share the name Aeden at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.