Audrey

Audrey
Pronunciation
Pronunciation of the name in British-English
GenderFemale, rarely male
Language(s)English
Origin
Language(s)Old English
Word/nameÆðelþryð
Derivationæðel + þryð
Meaning"noble strength"
Other names
Related namesEtheldreda, Ethel, Audie, Audra, Audre, Audrea

Audrey (/ˈɔːdri/) is a feminine given name. It is rarely a masculine given name. Audrey is the Anglo-Norman form of the Anglo-Saxon name Æðelþryð, composed of the elements æðel "noble" and þryð "strength". The Anglo-Norman form of the name was applied to Saint Audrey (died 679), also known by the historical form of her name as Saint Æthelthryth. The same name also survived into the modern period in its Anglo-Saxon form, as Etheldred,[1] e.g. Etheldred Benett (1776–1845).

In the 17th century, the name of Saint Audrey gave rise to the adjective tawdry "cheap and pretentious; cheaply adorned". The lace necklaces sold to pilgrims to Saint Audrey fell out of fashion in the 17th century, and so tawdry was reinterpreted as meaning cheap or vulgar. As a consequence, use of the name declined, but it was revived in the 19th century. Popularity of the name in the United States peaked in the interbellum period, but it fell below rank 100 in popularity by 1940 and was not frequently given in the later half of the 20th century; Audrey was the 173rd most common name for females in the United States in the 1990 census. Its popularity has again been on the rise since the 2000s, reaching rank 100 in 2002 and rank 41 in 2012. It was also ranked in the top 100 most common names for girls in France, Belgium, and Canada in the 2000s.[2]

People

Fictional characters

  • Audrey Anderson, in the 2010 film Legion
  • Audrey Belrose, a dateable character in the dating simulation video game Huniepop
  • Audrey Bourgeois, in the animated series Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir
  • Audrey fforbes-Hamilton, in the BBC television sitcom To the Manor Born
  • Audrey Fulquard, heroine of The Little Shop of Horrors, and her namesake "Audrey Jr." or "Audrey II"
  • Audrey Gordon, played by Heidi Areana in the satirical Australian television cooking series Audrey's Kitchen
  • Audrey Griswold, teenage daughter of Clark Griswold in the movie National Lampoon's Vacation.
  • Audrey Hanson, in the television series Heroes
  • Audrey Hope, on the 2021 Gossip Girl TV series
  • Audrey Horne, on the television series Twin Peaks
  • Audrey Parker-Nichols, in the Nickelodeon sitcom Drake & Josh
  • Audrey Raines, in television series 24
  • Audrey Reede, in the film Liar Liar
  • Audrey Roberts, on the British soap opera Coronation Street
  • Audrey Rose, from the novel, Audrey Rose, and its adaptations
  • Audrey Rose, character from the 2019 movie Descendants 3
  • Audrey Safranek, in the film, Downsizing
  • Audrey Turfe, in Ben Jonson's A Tale of a Tub
  • Audrey, in the eponymous 1902 novel by Mary Johnston, and its 1916 silent film adaptation
  • Audrey, in Shakespeare's As You Like It
  • Little Audrey, a cartoon character who was mainly popular during the 1950s and 1960s
  • Audrey Sharma, in the 2012 Disney Channel film Radio Rebel
  • Audrey Smith Bertha, on Harvey Girls Forever!
  • Audrey Hall, from the novel, Lord of Mysteries
  • Audrey, who is Ted Wiggins' love interest from the 2012 film, The Lorax

See also

  • Aubrey (name)
  • Audre Lorde (1934–1992), Caribbean-American writer
  • Audre Trupin, birth name of Pinny Cooke (1923–2004), New York politician
  • Æthelred
  • Aldred

Notes

  1. ^ ÆÐELÞRYÐ, Behind the Name
  2. ^ Audrey, Behind the Name
Name list
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