Aitor

Boy · Basque (19th-century literary coinage)

Aitor

Say it: ai-TOR

Meaning

Invented by the writer Joseph-Augustin Chaho for his 1845 legend of Aitor, mythical patriarch of the Basques, probably from the phrase aitoren seme 'son of good family, nobleman'. It is not an ancient name, and glosses such as 'good father' are speculative.

Likelythe main view, with some doubt.

Its wave through time

Rare in the records

In the United States

60 babies given this name since 1999
At its height in 2020, about 1 in 155,100 boys
11 babies in 2020

Through the ages

The Modern Age1880 to today

Used by

Basque Spanish

Names worth a look

XabierBoyFrom the castle of Xavier in Navarre, birthplace of Saint Francis Xavier; from Basque etxe berri 'new house'.Renaissance

UnaiBoyBasque unai 'cowherd, herdsman', used as a given name since the 20th century.Modern

KepaBoyA Basque equivalent of Pedro created in the early 20th century from Aramaic Kēpā 'rock', the apostle Peter's…Modern

AsierBoyA 20th-century Basque name; the often-given meaning 'beginning' (from hasiera) is a popular explanation that is not…Modern

EnekoBoyThe Basque form of medieval Enneco (Íñigo), of uncertain origin; a derivation from ene 'my' with the diminutive -ko…Early Medieval

JosuBoyA Basque equivalent of Jesús created in the early 20th century, from Hebrew Yehoshua 'God is salvation'.Modern

AudreyGirlA medieval English short form of Old English Æthelthryth, from æthel 'noble' and thryth 'strength'.Middle Ages · peak 1928

AdrianBoyFrom Latin Hadrianus 'from Hadria', a town in northern Italy that gave its name to the Adriatic Sea.Rome · peak 2008

Where this comes from

Modern use, as a recently created name
Well-known works of literature
United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source

Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.

Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.