Head to head · Boys' names
Aiden vs Andrew
#62 vs #73 in 2025 · both stepping back from its peak
Aiden is a whisker ahead (#62 vs #73 in 2025) and both are stepping back from its peak. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Andrew leads 3 measures of 6; Aiden leads 2.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Aiden —, Andrew #28 — Andrew higher
- 1890s: Aiden —, Andrew #36 — Andrew higher
- 1900s: Aiden —, Andrew #40 — Andrew higher
- 1910s: Aiden —, Andrew #45 — Andrew higher
- 1920s: Aiden —, Andrew #55 — Andrew higher
- 1930s: Aiden —, Andrew #76 — Andrew higher
- 1940s: Aiden —, Andrew #81 — Andrew higher
- 1950s: Aiden —, Andrew #63 — Andrew higher
- 1960s: Aiden —, Andrew #41 — Andrew higher
- 1970s: Aiden #4807, Andrew #27 — Andrew higher
- 1980s: Aiden #4922, Andrew #12 — Andrew higher
- 1990s: Aiden #1455, Andrew #8 — Andrew higher
- 2000s: Aiden #95, Andrew #8 — Andrew higher
- 2010s: Aiden #14, Andrew #29 — Aiden higher
- 2020s: Aiden #38, Andrew #63 — Aiden higher
Andrew stood higher in 13 of 15 decades; Aiden has held the lead since the 2010s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Aiden | Andrew |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #28 |
| 1890s | — | #36 |
| 1900s | — | #40 |
| 1910s | — | #45 |
| 1920s | — | #55 |
| 1930s | — | #76 |
| 1940s | — | #81 |
| 1950s | — | #63 |
| 1960s | — | #41 |
| 1970s | #4807 | #27 |
| 1980s | #4922 | #12 |
| 1990s | #1455 | #8 |
| 2000s | #95 | #8 |
| 2010s | #14 | #29 |
| 2020s | #38 | #63 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Aiden
- Canada#54
Andrew
Not charting outside the US.
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Aiden
Little fire, from Irish Aodh, 'fire'
Aodh was a common early Irish given name meaning 'fire'; Aodhán adds the diminutive ending -án, giving the sense of 'little fire' or 'fiery one'.
Áed → Aodh → Aodhán → Aidan → Aiden
How it traveled
The root is the Old Irish name Aodh (earlier Áed), which appears repeatedly in Irish genealogies and annals, and its pet form Aodhán. The best-known early bearer was Aidan of Lindisfarne, the seventh-century Irish monk sent from Iona to Northumbria, whose cult carried the name into English-speaking Britain.
Andrew
manly, brave
From the Greek andreios, manly or courageous, built on aner, a man, in the stem form andros. The same root gives English android and misandry, and it is one of the most productive words in Greek naming.
andreios → Andreas → Andrew
How it traveled
Andrew was the first of the disciples called, according to John's Gospel, and the traditions about him send him east and north — to Greece, where he is said to have been martyred on a diagonal cross, and to the Black Sea. That diagonal cross became the saltire, which is why it is on the flags of Scotland, of Russia's navy, and inside the Union Jack.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Aiden
AY-den
Two syllables, stress on the first. The Irish Aodhán is closer to AY-dawn or EY-thawn depending on dialect, so relatives with Irish Gaelic may say it differently.
- Aidy — Informal short form long used in Ireland and Britain for Aidan; also spelled Aidey.
- Aid — Clipped, informal, mostly spoken rather than written.
- A.J. — Initial nickname where the middle name supplies the second letter; used across many A- names, not specific to this one.
Andrew
AN-droo
Two syllables, stress on the first. The Italian Andrea is a man's name said an-DRAY-ah, which regularly confuses English speakers who read it as a woman's name; the two are the same name in different languages.
- Andy — The standard short form, warm and long established; fully unisex in American use and shared with Andrea.
- Drew — Taken from the back of the name rather than the front, which is unusual; it is now a standing given name of its own and reads as considerably more modern than Andy.
- Dre — A shorter clipping from the middle, current in American use and completely detached in sound from the full name.
Who has carried each name
Aiden
No documented entry for Aiden yet.
Andrew
Andrew Carnegie (b. 1835) — Steel titan who gave away his fortune building 2,500 libraries
Andrew Garfield (b. 1983) — Spider-Man and Hacksaw Ridge star
Andrew Jackson (b. 1767) — The president on the $20 bill
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Aiden if you want…
- a name most people already know#62 in 2025, 5,046 babies that year
- a name past its most crowded yearsAiden is stepping back from its peak
- a name that charts abroad tooAiden is on the national lists of Canada
- a newer arrivalAiden entered the US charts in 1970
Choose Andrew if you want…
- a name fewer children share#73 in 2025 — andrew will almost certainly be the only one in school
- a long American recordAndrew was already in use when US records began in 1880
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 12% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 83% for Aiden
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Aiden
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds for English speakers, and short enough to fit on any form.
- A documented line running back to early medieval Ireland, with the seventh-century Aidan of Lindisfarne as its best-known early bearer.
- Two clear syllables that survive most accents intact, and it charts in Canada as well as the United States.
To consider
- The -aden sound is shared with Jayden, Kayden, Brayden and Hayden, so mishearings over the phone are common even when the spelling is clear.
- Aidan, Ayden and Aden all circulate, which means a lifetime of confirming which one. Aidan is the older Irish form if that matters to you.
- The name is strongly weighted toward children and teenagers rather than adults, so it may read as distinctly of one generation for a while yet.
Andrew
Strengths
- It has been in continuous use in English for the better part of a thousand years and has never sounded dated.
- Andy and Drew are both fully established and belong to different generations, so a boy has real range.
- Every European language has a form of it, which makes it unusually portable.
To consider
- It reached the very top of the American list within living memory, so a man of a certain age will have shared classrooms with several.
- Andrew and Andrea are the same name in Italy and different names here, which causes confusion abroad.
- Nearly every child given this spelling is a boy; the girls in the record are few enough that no form will expect one.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Aiden
83%chance Aiden feels dated by 2040
Aiden is coming down from a big peak (#9 in 2010). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
Andrew
12%chance Andrew feels dated by 2040
Andrew has held the top-100 across 15 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Aiden and Andrew in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Aiden and Andrew?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists that carry both names
- Distinctly American names
- America's top 100 names right now
- The top-10 club: every name that made it
- Vowel names: soft starts from A to O
- all guides
Every list here names both Aiden and Andrew — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Aiden or Andrew — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Aiden or Andrew?
- Aiden, in 2025: Aiden ranked #62 with 5,046 babies; Andrew ranked #73 with 4,497 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Aiden or Andrew?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Aiden moved down 38 places; Andrew moved down 21 places.
- Which is the older name, Aiden or Andrew?
- Aiden entered the US charts in 1970; Andrew was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Andrew is the older name.
- How many people are named Aiden and Andrew?
- About 255,000 people named Aiden are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 1,138,000 people named Andrew are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Aidens or Andrews in the classroom?
- Aiden will almost certainly be the only one in school. Andrew will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025; international figures from national statistics agencies. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
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