Ayden is a modern American spelling of Aidan, the anglicized Irish Aodhán, a diminutive of Aodh, the Celtic god of the sun and fire, and so means "little fire" or "fiery one". It rode the great wave of rhyming boys' names, Jayden, Kayden and Brayden, that dominated American nurseries in the 2000s. Ayden rose from number 667 in 2000 to a peak of number 68 in 2012 and has fallen back since, from number 87 in 2015 to number 257 in 2025.