Given name & surname
Aldous
“old or wise one; elder”
Aldous has medieval English roots and a literary association through the novelist Aldous Huxley.
Meaning & origin
What it means
Aldous is a variant of Aldo. One German interpretation is “old or wise one; elder.”
Explained through its name family
Where it comes from
Aldous is a variant of Aldo. A possible origin is Germanic, although the derivation remains uncertain.
Explained through its name family
How it developed
Aldous is a short form of Alderan.
The story
Aldous was used in medieval East Anglia long before the novelist Aldous Huxley bore it. Its early use is established, even though its precise formation remains uncertain.
Aldous through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 167
- 167 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 2014
- 14 babies
- 2025
- 9
- #8,275 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −2%
- Steady
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 9 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 8,275 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 1.9% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 14 in 2014. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 194 as a first name in 2020; 935 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Aldous’s family of names
Aldous is a short form of Alderan. Aldous has a related form in Aldo. In English usage, Aldous has a conventional equivalent in the Yiddish form Alter.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 2
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 1
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Aldous
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.