Aubrey
A diminutive of the Germanic name Alberich, derived from words meaning "elf" and "power/ruler".
Name Census estimates that about 145,121 living Americans carry the first name Aubrey. It sits at #130 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 80.9% of registrations being female. The average person named Aubrey today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Aubrey births was 2012 (8,211 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Aubrey. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Aubrey with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Aubrey started out as a boys' name but over the decades crossed over and is now given to girls far more often.
People living today
145K
~ 1 in 2,362 Americans
Peak year
2012
8,211 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2024 SSA rank
#130
Tracked since 1880
Census
Aubrey in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 119,939 people with the first name Aubrey, which placed it at #469 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#469
National first-name rank
People counted
120K
119,939 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
39.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
69.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Aubrey
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Aubrey is White at 69.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (11.4%) and Black (11.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Aubrey described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Aubrey at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White69.9% · 83,806
- Hispanic or Latino11.4% · 13,633
- Black or African American11.1% · 13,294
- Two or more races5.5% · 6,607
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.4% · 1,706
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 893
Gender
Gender distribution for Aubrey
Aubrey leans heavily female at 80.9% of total registrations, but 31,019 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Aubrey as a male name
- Ranked #1,744 in 2024
- 94 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1926 (498 births)
Aubrey as a female name
- Ranked #130 in 2024
- 2,209 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2012 (8,059 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Aubrey leans strongly female. 104,945 people counted with this name were female (87.5%), compared with 14,983 male bearers (12.5%).
Popularity
Aubrey: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Aubrey from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 67,349 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Aubrey by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Aubrey during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Aubreys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. Texas, California, Florida recorded the most babies named Aubrey, while Vermont, Wyoming, District of Columbia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 3,034 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Aubrey
The name Aubrey has its origins in the Old French and Old Germanic languages, dating back to the Middle Ages. It is derived from the Germanic root "alf" meaning "elf" or "supernatural being," combined with the Old French "bri" or "briu," meaning "ruler" or "power."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Aubrey can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The name was typically given to boys during this period, reflecting the influence of Norman-French culture after the Norman conquest of England in 1066.
In the 12th century, the name Aubrey appeared in the medieval French epic poem "The Song of Roland," where it was borne by one of the protagonists, a valiant knight in Charlemagne's army. This literary reference contributed to the name's popularity and association with bravery and chivalry.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have carried the name Aubrey. One of the most famous was Aubrey de Vere, a 13th-century English nobleman and crusader who participated in the Fifth and Sixth Crusades (born around 1188, died in 1263). Another prominent figure was Aubrey de Vere, a 16th-century English poet and courtier during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (born in 1540, died in 1626).
In the 17th century, the name gained further prominence with Aubrey de Vere, the 20th Earl of Oxford (born in 1627, died in 1703), a prominent English nobleman and patron of the arts. During this time, the name also became associated with the influential Aubrey family, which produced several notable figures, including John Aubrey, a 17th-century antiquarian and writer (born in 1626, died in 1697).
Another significant bearer of the name was Aubrey Beardsley, a renowned English illustrator and author from the late 19th century (born in 1872, died in 1898). His distinctive black-and-white illustrations, known for their bold and controversial style, had a lasting impact on the Art Nouveau movement.
In the 20th century, the name Aubrey continued to be used, with notable figures such as Aubrey Hepburn, a British film producer and father of the iconic actress Audrey Hepburn (born in 1905, died in 1994), and Aubrey Menen, an Indian-born British novelist and satirist (born in 1912, died in 1989).
Notable bearers
Famous people named Aubrey
People
Aubrey + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Aubrey as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Aubrey: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Aubrey?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 145,121 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Aubrey going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 2,362 US residents.
Is Aubrey a common name?
We classify Aubrey as "Common". It ranks above 99.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 162,498 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Aubrey most popular?
The single biggest year for Aubrey was 2012, when 8,211 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Aubrey is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Aubrey in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 119,939 people with the name Aubrey, or 39.71 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #469 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Aubrey in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Aubrey?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Aubrey leans strongly female. 104,945 people counted with this name were female (87.5%), compared with 14,983 male bearers (12.5%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Aubrey?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Aubrey is White at 69.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (11.4%) and Black (11.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Aubrey most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Aubrey in the 2020 Census, accounting for 69.9% (83,806 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Aubrey in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Aubrey a female name?
Yes, 80.9% of people registered as Aubrey in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Aubrey still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Aubrey in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Aubrey can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many Americans are named Aubrey?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.