Aida
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "visitor" or "returning".
Name Census estimates that about 10,531 living Americans carry the first name Aida. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Aida today is around 38 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Aida births was 2005 (243 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Aida. 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.
People living today
11K
~ 1 in 32,547 Americans
Peak year
2005
243 babies that year
Average age
38
years old
1986 SSA rank
#1,242
Tracked since 1881
Gender
Gender distribution for Aida
Out of the 13,629 babies given the name Aida since 1880, 100.0% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Aida as a male name
- Ranked #6,742 in 1986
- 5 male births in 1986
- Peak: 1986 (5 births)
Aida as a female name
- Ranked #1,242 in 2024
- 187 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2005 (243 births)
Popularity
Aida: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Aida from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 1,750 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1960s peak, Aida remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Aida 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 Aida during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Aidas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 31 states and territories. New York, California, Texas recorded the most babies named Aida, while Rhode Island, Louisiana, Kentucky recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 328 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Aida
The name Aida has its origins in the Germanic languages, derived from the Old High German "ait" meaning "noble kind" or "noble sort." It first emerged in the early medieval period, around the 7th or 8th century CE, in what is now modern-day Germany and the surrounding regions.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Aida can be found in the ancient Germanic epic poem "Nibelungenlied," written around the 13th century. In the poem, Aida is mentioned as a minor character, suggesting the name was in use during that time period.
In the 16th century, the name gained prominence with the birth of Aida Overton Walker (1880-1914), an African American entertainer and performer who was a pioneer in the early days of vaudeville and musical theater. She was known for her innovative dance routines and her ability to blend various cultural influences into her performances.
Another notable figure with the name Aida was Aida de Acosta (1884-1962), a Cuban-American writer, and activist. She was one of the first Latinas to publish a novel in English, and her works often explored themes of gender, race, and identity.
In the realm of classical music, the name Aida is perhaps most famously associated with the renowned opera of the same name, composed by Giuseppe Verdi in 1871. The opera tells the story of an Ethiopian princess named Aida, who is captured and brought into slavery in Egypt.
Another influential figure with the name Aida was Aida Tomescu (1886-1937), a Romanian painter and sculptor. She was a prominent figure in the avant-garde art movement and is credited with introducing modernist styles to Romanian art.
Lastly, Aida Curt (1915-2005) was a Romanian-American scientist and engineer who made significant contributions to the field of aerodynamics. She worked for NASA and played a crucial role in the development of the Mercury and Gemini space programs.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Aida
People
Aida + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Aida 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
Aida: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Aida?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 10,531 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Aida 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 32,547 US residents.
Is Aida a common name?
We classify Aida as "Uncommon". It ranks above 97.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 13,629 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Aida most popular?
The single biggest year for Aida was 2005, when 243 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Aida is about 38 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Aida a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Aida in the SSA data are female. 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.
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.