Aja

With a name like Aja, your kiddo will find adventure at every turn. Aja is a gender-neutral name with a wealth of worldly origins and a mix of masculine and feminine usage across the globe. In several Indian languages, Aja has many meanings, including "goat" and "sheep" as a sweet animal-inspired choice, and more ethereal endearments like "unborn," "existing from all eternity," "driver," and "instigator." Those last few meanings are perfect for a soul searcher, and nod to how Aja is used as an epithet for the Hindu gods and divine figures Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, Kama, Agni, Indra, Pūṣan or Sūrya, and Rudra.

In Sami, a Scandinavian language, Aja means "cold spring," adding a refreshing touch to the moniker. Greenlandic brings familial vibes with its meaning "maternal aunt." In Igbo, a language in West Africa, Aja means "sacrifice" or "earth" and is used as both a first and last name. Aja is also used as a diminutive of names like Anja, Aina, Maja, and Maria.

How you pronounce Aja seems to depend on where you are, with community members of The Bump forum giving suggestions like "Asia," "ah-shae," "ay-jah," "eye-uh," and "ah-jha," based on people they've known with the name. Whatever way you decide to say it, Aja is music to the ears!

Fun Facts About the Name Aja

• Aja is the name of a Yoruba goddess: Aja also has Yoruba roots, where it is borne by a goddess (or minor orisha) of woodlands and therapeutic plants. She is a patron of the forest, the animals that live there, and healers who work with medicinal herbs.
• Aja's Mesopotamian connection: The name Aja's divine identity can also be traced to the Mesopotamian pantheon as the Akkadian goddess of dawn, marriage, and youth.
• Aja's late 1970s stardom: Following the release of Steely Dan’s iconic 1977 jazz-rock album Aja, the name Aja skyrocketed in the charts. According to the Social Security Administration (SSA) data, it went from #4,655 in 1977 to #412 in 1978. Wow!
• Aja is a palindrome: If you love wordplay and symmetry, you'll love Aja. As a palindrome (and a super short one at that), Aja is spelled the same way forward and backward—A-J-A.