Albany is a northern suburb of North Shore City, one of several cities in the Auckland metropolitan area in northern New Zealand. It is located to the north of the Waitemata Harbour, 15 kilometres northwest of the Auckland city centre. One of the city's newest suburbs, it was until relatively recently a town in its own right, and still has a feeling of not being truly a part of the city, which lies predominantly to the southeast of it. Much of the land to the north of Albany is still semi-rural.
The population was 2,169 in the 2006 Census, an increase of 1,224 from 2001..
The Māori name for the area was Okahukura (literally, 'place of rainbows' or 'place of butterflies'). The town was originally known as Lucas Creek, but was renamed in 1890 after Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, a son of Queen Victoria. The pronunciation of the name is a shibboleth — outsiders often misprounce it as "Aulbany".
~ Wikipedia