Proceeding from Cohen's initial question "What are the minimum conditions under which a set of marks functions as an image?", AARON has been in continual development since 1973. The name "AARON" does not seem to be an acronym, rather it was a name chosen to start with the letter "A" so that the names of successive programs could follow it alphabetically.

This article is about Aaron in the Hebrew Bible. For other uses of the word Aaron, see Aaron (disambiguation).

Aaron , or Aaron the Levite (flourished about 1200 BCE), was, according to biblical accounts, one of two brothers who play a unique part in the history of the Hebrew people. He was the elder son (and second child) of Amram and Jochebed of the tribe of Levi Moses, the other son, was three years younger, and Miriam, their sister, was several years older. Aaron was the great-grandson of Levi and represented the priestly functions of his tribe, becoming the first High Priest of the Hebrews. While Moses was receiving his education at the Egyptian court and during his exile among the Midianites, Aaron and his sister remained with their kinsmen in the eastern border-land of Egypt. Here he gained a name for eloquent and persuasive speech; so that when the time came for the demand upon the Pharaoh to release Israel from captivity, Aaron became his brother’s nabi , or spokesman, to his own people and, after their unwillingness to hear, to the Pharaoh himself.