Audrey Family History

English:: (of Norman origin): habitational name from Audrieu in Calvados, France, recorded as Aldreium in 1108. It is derived from the Middle English female personal name Aldrith, which sometimes became Audrey due to a 15th-century pronunciation change of /ald/ to /aud/. This name is rooted in one of three Old English female personal names: Æthelthrȳth ‘noble strength’, Ælfthrȳth ‘elf strength’, and Ealhthrȳth ‘temple strength’.

The most popular of these was Æthelthrȳth, commonly Latinized as Etheldreda. This name appeared in various Middle English forms such as Atheldrith(e), Aildrith, Aldreth, Etheldred, and Eldrid(e). It was borne by a Christian saint, Saint Etheldred, who is later known as Saint Audrey.

Saint Etheldred was the Queen of Northumbria and the daughter of Anna, king of East Anglia. She founded and became the first abbess of the monastery at Ely around 672. Her legacy and the continued veneration of her cult after the Norman Conquest likely contributed to the survival of the personal name well into the 14th century.