Aerith was invented for the video game Final Fantasy VII in 1997, where Aerith Gainsborough is the gentle flower seller at the heart of the story; the name is commonly understood as a play on the word "earth". The 2020 remake introduced the character to a new generation of players and parents. In the United States Aerith had fewer than five births in 2000, ranked number 6243 in 2015 and climbed to number 2018 in 2025, its highest rank yet.