Audley
Masculine · “Ealdgyth's clearing”
Audley is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 694 boys against 5 girls since 1880.
Audley is an English place name that became a surname and then, in America, a first name given almost entirely to sons. The grandest thing carrying it is a house that was built to impress a king and succeeded too well.
How old is the name Audley?
Audley first appears in US birth records in 1891 — 134 years ago. The typical Audley alive today was born around 1933, making them about 92 years old. About 200 people named Audley are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Audley most popular?
Audley peaked in 1894, reaching #594 nationally. See the whole 1894 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Audley
Audley End in Essex was built by the first Earl of Suffolk in the early seventeenth century on the site of an abbey, at a scale that was ruinous even for a lord treasurer — it was said to be the largest house in England, with two great courtyards, and the owner was later imprisoned for embezzlement in part because of what it had cost. James the First is supposed to have said it was too large for a king, though it might do for a lord treasurer. Charles the Second actually bought it, because it was near the racecourse at Newmarket and made a convenient base; his successors stopped paying the instalments and it was handed back. Later owners demolished about two thirds of it because they could not afford to keep it standing, which is why the building visitors see now is the surviving fragment.
Meaning
Ealdgyth's clearing
A Staffordshire village name joining an Old English woman's personal name to the very common element meaning a clearing in woodland. The family that took the name from the place became prominent, which is how it spread; what a particular American household meant by it is not recorded.
Pronouncing Audley
AWD-lee
Two syllables with the stress at the front. The au says the vowel of awe, as it does in almost every English word that has it.
Nicknames for Audley
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1891
- Most boys named
- 192427 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #594reached in 1894
- Change vs 1997
- −25.0%6 in 1998, from 8
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Audleys among us
people named Audley are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Audley sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Two syllables with front stress is the plainest shape English has.
- It names a real place with a documented meaning.
- It works for a child of either sex, which the record confirms.
- Audrey and Adley will both be written for it.
- It reads as a surname, which suits some settings and not others.
- Nothing records which family or place a given household meant by it.
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Audley
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Audleys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 200 people named Audley are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Audley in 2025?
- Audley is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Audley with classmates?
- Audley will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More A names
The most-given names starting with A, all years combined.
Anthony#46 · Andrew#73 · Alexander#30 · Aaron#80 · Adam#101 · Arthur#87 · Albert#614 · Austin#113
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Audley? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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