Aaron
AIR-un
The name Aaron comes from the Hebrew Aharon, a name whose etymology was debated even in antiquity. The most widely accepted derivation links it to the Hebrew root har (“mountain”), giving a sense of “mountain of strength” or “exalted one”.
An alternative tradition connects it to the Egyptian aha rw, “warrior lion”, which would fit the Levite family”s long sojourn in Egypt as recorded in the Book of Exodus.
In the Hebrew Bible Aaron is the elder brother of Moses and the first High Priest of Israel, whose flowering rod is described in Numbers 17. He is venerated as a prophet in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, where he appears as Harun.
What the name Aaron means
Eastern Christianity honours Saint Aaron of Aleth, a sixth-century Welsh hermit who founded a monastery on the islet that became Saint-Malo. The name was also borne by Aaron of Caerleon, a Romano-British martyr executed around 304 CE.
Literary use is rich and continuous. Shakespeare gave the name to the villain Aaron the Moor in Titus Andronicus (c. 1591). Henry Wadsworth Longfellow honoured the biblical priest in The Golden Legend.
In modern fiction Aaron Burr is the antagonist of Lin-Manuel Miranda”s musical Hamilton (2015), and Aaron Hotchner anchors the long-running television series Criminal Minds.
Use of the name in the United States has been steady and substantial. Aaron appears in the top 1000 from the very start of SSA records in 1880, ranked in the 100s through the early twentieth century, and surged after the 1970s.
Its peak was rank 28 in 1994, and it held position 71 in 2023. Adoption is broad across all regions, with particular strength in the Midwest and Mountain states.
Notable bearers include baseball legend Hank Aaron, vice-president and duellist Aaron Burr, screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers and Israeli chemist Aaron Ciechanover, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2004.
US popularity over time
Numerology and symbolism
Based on Pythagorean numerology — a traditional system linking name letters to numbers. Presented for cultural interest.
Famous people named Aaron
Aaron - similar names
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Ways to spell Aaron
| Variant | Language |
|---|---|
| Harun | Arabic |
| Aharon | Hebrew |
| Aron | Hebrew/Scandinavian variant |
| Arun | Sanskrit (dawn, unrelated but phonetic) |