Aideen
Feminine name of Irish origin meaning "little fire".
Name Census estimates that about 198 living Americans carry the first name Aideen. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 70.0% of registrations being female. The average person named Aideen today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Aideen births was 2011 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Aideen. 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 Aideen with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
198
~ 1 in 1,731,083 Americans
Peak year
2011
20 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,306
Tracked since 1999
Census
Aideen in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 300 people with the first name Aideen, which placed it at #29,484 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
#29,484
National first-name rank
People counted
300
300 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
66.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Aideen
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Aideen is White at 66.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (22.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (4.0%). 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 Aideen 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 Aideen at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White66.3% · 199
- Hispanic or Latino22.7% · 68
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.0% · 12
- Two or more races4.0% · 12
- Black or African American2.3% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Aideen
Aideen is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 200 total registrations, 60 (30.0%) were male and 140 (70.0%) were female.
Aideen as a male name
- Ranked #8,306 in 2024
- 9 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2011 (13 births)
Aideen as a female name
- Ranked #15,167 in 2020
- 5 female births in 2020
- Peak: 2018 (13 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Aideen on both sides of the split. Of the 298 people counted with this name, 66 were male (22.1%) and 232 were female (77.9%).
Popularity
Aideen: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Aideen from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 115 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Aideen 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 Aideen during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Aideens live
Origin
Meaning and history of Aideen
The name Aideen is of Irish Gaelic origin and is believed to have derived from the old Irish word "aídiu" meaning "fire" or "ardent". It is a feminine name that has been in use since ancient times in Ireland.
Aideen is closely related to the Irish name Aidin, which is a variant spelling. The name is also similar to the Welsh name Aedan, which has a similar meaning related to fire or passion.
In Irish mythology, Aideen was the name of a beautiful and passionate princess who was the subject of many legendary tales. She was known for her fiery spirit and unwavering devotion to her loved ones.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Aideen can be found in the Annals of Ulster, an ancient chronicle of Irish history dating back to the 15th century. The annals mention an Aideen who was the daughter of a prominent Irish chieftain.
Throughout history, there have been several notable figures who bore the name Aideen. One of the most famous was Aideen O'Doherty (c. 1570-1629), an Irish noblewoman and political activist who played a significant role in the Irish Rebellion of 1641.
Another notable Aideen was Aideen Ni Cholgan (c. 1300-1380), a renowned Irish poet and bard who composed many beautiful poems and songs celebrating Irish culture and history.
In the 19th century, Aideen Fitzgibbon (1823-1901) was an Irish author and journalist who wrote extensively about Irish social and political issues of her time.
More recently, Aideen O'Sullivan (1907-1991) was an Irish actress and singer who performed on stage and in films throughout the mid-20th century.
Aideen King (born 1949) is a contemporary Irish writer and academic who has published several acclaimed works of fiction and non-fiction.
Overall, the name Aideen has a rich history and deep roots in Irish culture, dating back to ancient times. It has been borne by many notable figures throughout the centuries and continues to be a popular choice for parents seeking a distinctive and meaningful Irish name for their daughter.
People
Aideen + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Aideen 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
Aideen: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Aideen?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 198 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Aideen 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 1,731,083 US residents.
Is Aideen a common name?
We classify Aideen as "Very Rare". It ranks above 74.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 200 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Aideen most popular?
The single biggest year for Aideen was 2011, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Aideen is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Aideen in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 300 people with the name Aideen, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #29,484 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 Aideen 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 Aideen?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Aideen on both sides of the split. Of the 298 people counted with this name, 66 were male (22.1%) and 232 were female (77.9%). 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 Aideen?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Aideen is White at 66.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (22.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (4.0%). 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 Aideen most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Aideen in the 2020 Census, accounting for 66.3% (199 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 Aideen in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Aideen a female name?
Yes, 70.0% of people registered as Aideen 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.
Is Aideen still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Aideen 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 Aideen 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 many people have the name Aideen?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.