A dividend aristocrat is a firm that is included in the S&P 500 index that not only pays a dividend on a constant basis to shareholders but also increases the size of its distribution on an annual basis. A company can be classified as an "income dividend aristocrat" if it has regularly increased its dividend payments for at least the past 25 years. There are dividend aristocrat enthusiasts who rank them based on additional variables such as firm size and liquidity, such as having a market capitalization over $3 billion, while others simply measure dividend yield.

A dividend aristocrat is a company that has grown its dividends for 25 consecutive years. These firms should be carefully considered by investors because they are steady performers and should provide above-average returns over the long-term. There are thousands of companies out there, but only a select few can call themselves a Dividend Aristocrat, meaning these firms have been able to afford to pay their shareholders growing dividend payments for 25 consecutive years.