Is Aidan politically neutral or not?

[Elvisis]

Saw a post about religious names and neutral names in Northern Ireland. I live in Belfast and while I was raised in the Catholic religion I'm an atheist and plan to send my children to an integrated school and allow them to make their own religious decisions when older.
I love the name Aidan for a boy and feel it's pretty neutral having known a few from England and America as well as actors. But now I'm wondering if you would strongly associate it with being a Catholic/Irish?

I know there are quite a few spellings but id go with Aidan myself.

I did some goggling I don't think it's just Aidan it's more all those names ending in den like Jayden and Kayden are popular so are used a lot (more in America). Elliot is also popular in that community because of Elliot Paige. think by the time my little boy is older different names will be used by mentally confused people or they will have de-transitioned

I know one Aidan who is protestant.

And I know a St Aidan Cathedral
Eamon is similar and also neutral.

Nearly every name under the Sun is a Saint's name.

Eamon is really not a neutral name.

Aidan is definitely a Catholic name in NI but I don’t think would make much of a statement these days?

It’s lovely - you should use it OP. I survived with a Catholic name growing up in Belfast in the 90s at a Protestant school!

Agreed, it really isn't! About as definitively Catholic as you can get!

We chose Aidan and we love it. We are not religious, but also not in Ireland.

I wouldn't not to use it because of the trans men as pp suggested - I wouldn't 'surrender' the name to them.

The more the name is used with an intention to be accepted neutrally, the less people will associate it with anything else but the actual child. So I'd just go ahead if I love it, and hope more people like you do too.

At Aidan’s in Harrogate is a Church of England school. Whilst not in NI, it suggests it can’t be only catholic

I had no idea that people would have to consider things like this in 2023, it seems a bit sad doesn't it?

I think Aidan is a really lovely name, but I'm a Glaswegian who has lived in Yorkshire for 25 years so I have no political or religious slant when I hear it.

Aidan is an anglicisation of the Irish name Aodhán. Surely no name is completely culturally neutral? People of any religion can be Irish. It irritates me that Catholicism is equated with being Irish in Northern Ireland. We all know religion has nothing to do with the ongoing occupation of the six counties. I'm not a Christian but I am Irish. Just use the name and if unionists decide they're going to judge you on a name, then they need to grow the fuck up.

Adrian?

Some names are absolutely more neutral than others, for example Bible names: not neutral completely, but with a much wider base. If I run into a Sara on a list of names, I haven't got the slightest clue about race or ethnicity or religion. Whereas a name connected to a minority language such as Irish has a much clearer connection.