Audrey

The name evolved from an early English compound that medieval scribes smoothed into two syllables. Shakespeare placed an Audrey in As You Like It near the close of the sixteenth century. American registration first recorded the name in 1881, after which it spent over a century in regular circulation before climbing toward an unprecedented peak in 2015.

An Audrey tends to be pictured writing thank-you notes with a fountain pen, though the age distribution skews considerably younger. Holders from Generation Z and Generation Alpha together make up fifty-six percent of the living total, following a high-water mark of around six thousand births in 2015. Another fifteen percent belong to the baby boom, leaving a quiet trough through the middle decades. The name suggests an ironed handkerchief, but most people who answer to it are currently waiting for the school bell.