Audrey

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Girl · Old English

Audrey

Say it: AW-dree

Try it with your surname

Meaning

A medieval English short form of Old English Æthelthryth, from æthel 'noble' and thryth 'strength'.

Certainscholars agree on this meaning.

Cheap lace sold at St Audrey's fair in Ely gave English the word 'tawdry'.

Its wave through time

A revival, back after decades away

In the United States

292,701 babies given this name since 1881
At its height in 1928, about 1 in 249 girls
3,744 babies in 2020

Through the ages

Used by

English Anglo-Saxon

The family of the name

Other spellings: Awdrey, Etheldreda

Old English	Æthelthryth

Famous bearers

Saint Etheldreda (Audrey) of Ely

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Where this comes from

Lives of the saints and early Christian martyrologies
Parish baptism registers
United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source

Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.

Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.