Autrey
A surname most likely derived from a medieval personal name, later fixed in English-speaking families as a hereditary surname.
The #7,924 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 73,916 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Autrey is generally treated as a surname that came from a personal name rather than directly from a place or job. It is likely connected to medieval French and Germanic naming forms, ultimately from an old personal name such as Audry or Aubrey-type forms, which were popular in Norman England. The deeper sense behind those older names is usually given as something like “noble power” or “old power,” though exact lineages can vary.
History
The name appears in English-speaking records in forms that reflect Norman French influence, and it likely became hereditary in the Middle Ages. In later centuries it survived mainly as a family surname in Britain and North America, where spellings often shifted between Autrey, Autry, and related forms. The modern US distribution suggests a long-established but not especially common surname.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Autrey is close in spelling to the surname Autry, and in historical records the two can sometimes be tangled by spelling variation and handwriting.