User blog comment:Bilitis/Poll - Who is your favourite spouse?/@comment-10578181-20160617072930/@comment-28157605-20160617074401

To me she's okay but she's a bit stereotypical. Most of the people I know in real life married her, Ysolda or Lydia because of their proximity. She live in the first real town you visited, most of the players discovered the guild thing with the Companions so they finished the questline and when they hear about wedding Aela (or Lydia and Ysolda) is already a potential spouse. People are attached to them because they did their first steps in the game with them.

Also, Aela is a little more complicated to obtain than Lydia and Ysolda, so she's not THE player's favorite.