William Aiton

William Aiton (1731 - February 2, 1793) was a Scottish botanist.

Aiton was born near Hamilton. Having been regularly trained to the profession of a gardener, he travelled to London in 1754, and became assistant to Philip Miller, then superintendent of the Chelsea Physic Garden. In 1759 he was appointed director of the newly established botanical garden at Kew, where he remained until his death. He effected many improvements at the gardens, and in 1789 he published Hortus Kewensis, a catalogue of the plants there cultivated.

A second and enlarged edition of the Hortus was brought out in 1810-1813 by his eldest son, William Townsend Aiton (1766 - 1849), who succeeded him at Kew and was commissioned by George IV to lay out the gardens at the Pavilion, Brighton.

The standard botanical author abbreviation Aiton is applied to plants he described, while his son is mentioned as W. T. Aiton in citations.