Aida is from the Arabic *ʿāʾida* (عائدة) — "returning visitor, reward." **Verdi's *Aida* (1871)** — **commissioned for the Khedivial Opera House in Cairo by Ismail Pasha to mark the opening of the Suez Canal; the title character is an enslaved Ethiopian princess at the court of Egypt who falls in love with the Egyptian general Radamès; among the most-performed operas of all time — over 1,300 productions at the Metropolitan Opera since its 1886 premiere there**. **Leontyne Price's 1985 farewell Met performance of Aida is in the Grammy Hall of Fame; Anna Netrebko (2018) and Sondra Radvanovsky (2017) are among the most-acclaimed modern Aidas; Mária Callas's 1953 Mexico City recording is a classic**. **Aida Turturro (born 1962)** — **American actress; played Janice Soprano on HBO's *The Sopranos* (1999-2007) — two Primetime Emmy nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series**. **Aida Cuevas (born 1963)** — Mexican mariachi singer; Latin Grammy winner; first ranchera vocalist nominated for a Grammy. **Aida Bortnik (1938-2013)** — Argentine screenwriter; **co-wrote *The Official Story* (1985) — the first Spanish-language film to win the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film**. **Aida Yespica** — Venezuelan model. **Aida** is also a top-200 baby name in Egypt, Bosnia, and Turkey.
Featured throughout opera history and Italian-American culture.
Aida reduces to eight — the number of Verdi opera.