Audrey
| Audrey |
| Gender |
female |
| Language(s) |
Anglo-Norman < Anglo-Saxon |
| Origin |
| Meaning |
"noble strength" |
| Other names |
| See also |
Etheldreda, Ethel, Audie, Audra, Audrea |
Audrey is a given name. It is also the name of Saint Audrey or Saint Æthelthryt, a 7th century saint.[1] Audrey was the 51st most popular name for girls born in 2007 in the United States and was the 173rd most common name for females in the United States in the 1990 census. It was also ranked in the top 100 most common names for girls in France, Belgium, and Canada in the past five years.[2] The name has gained some popularity due to the fame of the actress Audrey Hepburn.
Origin and Meaning
It has a double etymology : the first element Au-d- in both cases is ultimately from the Anglo-Saxon ethel (also spelled æðel) meaning "noble".[3]
The second element -d-rey can be rǣd, rēd "advice, opinion, happiness", so Æthelred > Aldred, Eldred in Middle-English is a masculine name.[4] The phonetical shift Aldred > Audrey is typical for the Anglo-Norman language, a Langue d'oïl, close related to Old French.
The second element can be thruth (also spelled þryð) "strength", because Saint Æthelthrut(h) is called Saint Audrey too.
Famous Audreys
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Famous people named Audrey include:
- Saint Audrey, Anglo-Saxon saint
- Audrey Bitoni, American porn star
- Audrey Brown (1913–2005), British athlete
- Audrey de Montigny, French-Canadian singer
- Audrey Emery, American socialite and wife of Dmitri Pavlovich of Russia
- Audrey Erskine-Lindop (1920–1986), British author
- Audrey Flack (* 1931), American artist
- Audrey Faith Hill(nee Perry) (born 1967), American Country singer and model
- Audrey Hepburn, actress and fashion model
- Audrey Hollander, American porn actress
- Audrey Landers (* 1956), American actress
- Audrey Lawson-Johnston (* 1915), last survivor of the shipwreck Lusitania
- Audrey Long, American actress
- Audrey Kitching, model, fashion designer, fashion blogger
- Audrey Malte, alleged illegitimate daughter of Henry VIII and a royal laundress
- Audrey McLaughlin, Canadian politician, former leader of the New Democratic Party
- Audrey Meadows, American actress
- Audrey Mestre (1974–2002), French athlete
- Audrey Munson (1891–1996), American model and actress
- Audrey Niffenegger (* 1963), American novelist
- Audrey Patterson (1926–1996), American athlete*
- Audrey Richards (1899–1984), British anthropologist
- Audrey Tang, Taiwanese software programmer
- Audrey Tautou, French actress
- Audrey Wasilewski (1967- ) American voice actress
- Audrey Wells, American film director
- Audrey Williamson (* 1926), British athlete
- Audre Geraldine Lorde 1934-1992, Caribbean-American writer, poet and activist
Owarai
- Audrey, an owarai or comedy duo in Japan
Things
The name has also been given to several non-human entities, including:
Fiction
In fiction, the name has been used by:
- Audrey, a character in Shakespeare's As You Like It
- Audrey, a 1902 book by Mary Johnston, or the film of it made in 1916
- Audrey Cheng, a character in the Power of Five novels
- Audrey Fulquard, heroine of The Little Shop of Horrors, and her namesake "Audrey Jr." or "Audrey II"
- Audrey Hanson, a character in television series Heroes
- Audrey Horne, a character on the television series Twin Peaks
- Audrey Roberts, a character on the British soap opera Coronation Street
- Audrey Raines, a character in television series 24
- Audrey Reede, a character in the film Liar Liar
- Audrey Turfe, a character in Ben Jonson's A Tale of a Tub
Music
Similar Names
Notes