A variant of Avery, from a Germanic-rooted name meaning ruler of the elves.
Averey is a phonetic variant spelling of Avery, a name with Old English and Old French roots that has undergone one of the more remarkable gender migrations in modern naming history. The name derives from the Old French Avery, itself an adaptation of the Old English Ælfric or the Old High German Alberich — both meaning "elf ruler" or "ruler of the supernatural beings," combining the element alf (elf) with ric (power, ruler). Alberich appears as the dwarf king of Norse and Germanic mythology, keeper of the Nibelung treasure, later immortalized in Wagner's Ring cycle.
In this lineage, Averey carries ancient magical connotations: a sovereign of the hidden world. For most of English history, Avery functioned as a masculine surname-turned-given-name, carried by figures such as John Avery (also known as Henry Every), the seventeenth-century pirate who pulled off one of the most audacious heists in maritime history, capturing the Mughal emperor's treasure fleet and disappearing into legend. In the United States, Avery became familiar through the Avery surname tradition and through Avery Fisher, the audio equipment pioneer whose name graced Lincoln Center's concert hall for decades.
The name's gender shift toward feminine use accelerated sharply in the 1990s and 2000s, and Avery now ranks among the most popular girls' names in the United States, while retaining usage for boys. The Averey spelling — with the added 'e' — follows a widespread contemporary practice of personalizing names through orthographic variation, signaling individuality while keeping the familiar sound intact. The name now evokes a confident, modern femininity that has entirely eclipsed its elf-king origins for most parents who choose it.