Audrey

Where the name comes from

• Old English
  noble strength
  Æðelþryð (Æthelthryth), from æþel 'noble' + þryþ 'strength, might'
  Audrey is a shortened form of the Old English name Æthelthryth. Scholars write that name in Latin as Etheldreda. The longer form became Aldreda by the 1000s, and Audrey appears by the 1200s. One sound change helped shape it. Around the 1400s, 'ald' came to be pronounced 'aud' in some names. An older reading from the 1800s glossed the second part differently. Modern scholarly sources give 'strength.'

Audrey across traditions

• Christian (Anglo-Saxon saint). The name became popular because of Saint Æthelthryth, also known as Etheldreda or Saint Audrey. She was a princess of East Anglia and a queen in Northumbria. About 1,350 years ago she founded a double monastery at Ely, with communities of both men and women. She led it as abbess until she died. Her feast day is June 23.
• English language. The English word 'tawdry' comes from this name. Cheap silk laces and trinkets were sold at Saint Audrey's fair in Ely. People called them 'St. Audrey's lace,' which was shortened to 'tawdry lace' by the 1540s. Over time 'tawdry' came to mean cheap and showy. The name was never lost among country people in England, and it came back into wider use in the 1800s.
• United States. Peak decade: the 2010s, when Audrey ranked #38 among US girls' names (SSA). It ranked #86 in 2025.

Who carried it

• Saint Æthelthryth (Etheldreda, Saint Audrey) (Died about 1,350 years ago): Anglo-Saxon princess and queen. She founded the double monastery at Ely and led it as its first abbess.
• Audrey Hepburn (1929–1993): Belgian-born film actress who won an Academy Award for Roman Holiday (1953). She later served as a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF.

Forms in other languages

Audry, Audrie, Audree, Awdrie, Awdry, Etheldreda, Etheldred, Aldreda, Æthelthryth, Addy

Audrey in letter-number systems

Hebrew, Greek and other traditions gave every letter a number, and read meaning into the totals. These are the counts, computed; the readings are inside the Innerverse.