Aubrey

AWB-ree

English from French

"elf ruler"

Aubrey Origin and Meaning

The name Aubrey is a boy's name of English origin meaning "elf ruler".

Once a popular choice in for boys in the Middle Ages and again during the 19th century, Aubrey has mostly been used for girls in the US since the 1970's. With its arty, surname-y, and sophisticated feel, however, it is rising up the UK charts for both boys and girls.

Derived from the Auberi, an Old French variant of Alberich, Aubrey means "elf ruler". Up until the 50's, it was relatively well known for boys in the US, but with the release of the song "Aubrey" by Bread in 1972, the scales tipped.

Despite this, there are still memorable male bearers of the name, including rapper Drake, whose full name is Aubrey Drake Graham; the 19th century illustrator Aubrey Beardsley; and the central character of John Polidori's novel The Vampyre.

Used on only a tiny handful of boys each year in the US, in the UK, Aubrey is currently in the Top 250 for girls, but also the Top 600 for boys. This means it is given to boys 5 times more often in the UK, than it is the US.

Gentle, cool and handsome, Aubrey fits in with the recent interest in softer boys names and in surnames-as-given-names. Plus, with Ellis, Mckenzie, Hadley, Casey, and Oakley in use, Aubrey might see further gains.

Aubrey Rank in US Top 1000

# 937 in the US

Aubrey Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 821 on Nameberry

Aubrey Popularity

• 821 Nameberry 2024
• 387 Unique 2023
• 570 England 2021

20 Names Similar to Aubrey

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Aubrey.

• Mollie
• Marley
• Sidney
• Skylar
• Mattie
• Ruaidhri
• Isidore
• Avery
• Eden
• Robyn
• Empress
• Florian
• Montserrat
• Karmen
• Estel
• Embry
• Zackary
• Zephyr
• Aubrey
• Indiana

Famous People Named Aubrey

• Aubrey Vincent Beardsley English illustrator
• (Aubrey) Drake Graham aka Drake Canadian rapper and actor
• Aubrey David Nicholas Jasper de Grey English author and gerontologist
• Aubrey Woods English actor
• Aubrey Wray Fitch American WWII admiral
• Aubrey Lewis Huff American baseball player
• Aubrey Haynie American bluegrass musician
• Aubrey Strahan British geologist
• Aubrey Morris English actor
• Aubrey Joseph American actor
• Aubrey de Vere 2nd Baronet, Irish poet
• Aubrey McClendon Chesapeake CEO
• Aubrey Lafell Dawkins American basketball player
• Aubrey Stevens (b. 2012) son of actor Dan Stevens and jazz singer Susie Hariet
• Aubrey Jacob Lemkus (b. 2017) son of vegan lifestyle youtubers Sarah and Dan Lemkus

Aubrey in Pop Culture

• Aubrey Greene artist in "The White Monkey" (1924) by John Galsworthy
• John "Jack" Aubrey main character in the Aubrey–Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian
• James Aubrey character on TV series "Bones"
• "Aubrey" is a song written and composed by David Gates and originally recorded by the soft rock group Bread