[3] Past interpretations of the name have included that of William Owen Pughe, who in his Dictionary of the Welsh Language believed Aeron meant "queen of brightness".

[5] The Aeron has its source in Llyn Eiddwen, in the range of hills called Mynydd Bach.

[6] A mile or so later, the Aeron then flows close to the restored mansion at Llanerchaeron which is now in the care of the National Trust before entering the town of Aberaeron where it passes into Cardigan Bay.

Although the Aeron has suffered from intermittent pollution including some severe incidents in the 1970s caused by creamery waste and crude sewage escapes in the Felinfach area, the principal impacts are now diffuse agricultural waste, pesticides from agriculture and acidification especially from upland forestry plantations.

[citation needed] Dylan Thomas lived near the banks of the river in the 1940s, at a secluded mansion called Plas Gelli, just outside Talsarn.

Talsarn and its hinterland was once the centre of a thriving group of country poets (beirdd y wlad ).

[13] Joseph Jenkins also wrote for agricultural journals, as well as writing a book on his travels in Australia.