Aubrey - Origin and Meaning of the name

The girl name Aubrey [ comp. au-brey ] is also used as a boy name, though it is far more popular for girls. It is pronounced AOBRiy ^KEY. Aubrey is of Germanic origin and it is used mainly in English. The name Aubrey means 'elf ruler, supernaturally powerful'. Two-element name derived from alf and ric which have the meanings 'elf' and 'rich, powerful, ruler' respectively. An old form of the name is the Germanic Alberic. The name was introduced to England by the Normans in the 11th century, and was used throughout the Middle Ages. It later fell out of favor before seeing a revival near the end of the 19th century.

A form of Aubrey is the English Aubree. See also the related form, the German Alberich.

Aubrey is popular as a baby girl name, and it is also regarded as trendy. The name has been rising in popularity since the 1970s; prior to that, it was of only sporadic use. At the modest peak of its usage in 2007, 0.214% of baby girls were named Aubrey. It had a ranking of #69 then. Out of all girl names in its family, Aubrey was the most popular in 2007. Aubrey was 4 times more popular than the next ranked name, the English Aubree, in that year. Although Aubrey is today more frequently used for girls, there was a period prior to 1973 when more boys were given the name. After 1974, increasingly the name became more popular with girls than with boys. There were 10 times more girls than boys who were named Aubrey in 2002.

Baby names that sound like Aubrey include the English Aubree, the German Afra, and the English Aphra.

^KEY: Pronunciation for Aubrey: AO as in "ought (AO.T)" ; B as in "be (B.IY)" ; R as in "read (R.IY.D)" ; IY as in "eat (IY.T)"

Popularity Trend
for Aubrey
from 1900 to 2007

Variant Comparison Chart
for Aubrey
in 2007