Andrew - Origin and Meaning of the name

[ 2 syll. an-drew, and-r-ew ] The boy name Andrew is pronounced as AENDRuw ^KEY. Andrew is largely used in the English, Greek, and Russian languages, and it is derived from Old Greek origins. Biblical name derived from the element 'andreia' meaning male, manly, brave, virility. Andreas (Latin and Old Greek) is an original form of Andrew. In the Bible, Andrew was first chosen of the twelve apostles, and the brother of Simon Peter; the name Andrew was a Greek translation of his Hebrew name, which is not known. He was later thought to be crucified at Patras in Achaia, and was thereafter venerated as Saint Andrew and adopted as the patron saint of Scotland, Greece, Russia, and Romania; various forms of the name have thus become popular in these countries. In Scotland, the city of St Andrews was named after him, and in England, more than 600 churches were dedicated to him. Other saints of the same name include Saint Andrew of Crete (650-740), who was cured of dumbness after his Holy Communion; Andrew Avellino (1521-1608), the patron saint of Naples and Sicily; and Andrew Fournet (1752-1834), who helped establish the order of the Daughters of the Cross. In literature, the name appeared in Shakespeare's comedy Twelfth Night (1601) as the slow and comic Sir Andrew Aguecheek; this association, together with the use of the term 'Merry Andrew' to refer to a clown during the Tudor period lent a comic touch to the name during the time. In England, the name was later popularized by Queen Elizabeth II's second son Prince Andrew, Duke of York. The name Andrea (Czech, English, German, Hungarian, Scandinavian, and Slavic) is the female equivalent of Andrew.

The name Andrew is widely used; it has 55 variants that are used in both English and other languages. Variants of Andrew used in English include Andre (also used in Portuguese) and Andru. Other English variants include the short form Drew (also used in Scottish), and the pet forms Andie, Andy, Dandie (also used in Scottish), Dandy (also used in Scottish), Drue, Mandrew, and Randy.

Foreign variants of Andrew include Adem (Turkish), Aindrea (Scottish), Aindréas (Irish), Aindrias (Irish), Aindriú (Irish), Analu (Hawaiian), Anaru (Maori), Ander (Basque), Anders (Scandinavian), Andi (German), Andor (Hungarian), Andra (Scottish), Andras (Welsh), András (Hungarian), Andrea (Italian), Andreas (German, Greek, Scandinavian, and Welsh), Andrei (Romanian, Russian, Slavic, and Ukrainian), Andrej (Czech, Russian, and Slavic), Andrejs (Latvian), Andres (Estonian and German), Andreu (Catalan), Andrey (Russian and Slavic), André (French and Portuguese), Andrés (Spanish), Andri (Scandinavian), Andria (Corsican), Andrian (Russian), Andries (Dutch and German), Andrij (Ukrainian), Andrija (Slavic), Andris (Hungarian and Latvian), Andrius (Lithuanian), Andriy (Ukrainian), Andro (Slavic), Andrus (Estonian), Andrzej (Polish), Anndra (Scottish), Antero (Finnish), Antti (Finnish), Dries (Dutch and German), Endre (Hungarian), Jedrej (Polish), Jedrzej (Polish), and Ondrej (Czech and Slavic). Another foreign variant is the pet form Dand (Scottish).

See also the related form, Anderson (English).

Andrew is a very popular baby name for boys. The name's popularity rose from the 1940s up to the 1980s. Its usage peaked in 1987 with 1.857% of baby boys being given the name Andrew. Its ranking then was #6. The baby name has since experienced a fall in popularity. In 2007, its usage was 0.833% and its ranking #10, but it was nonetheless the most popular among all boy names in its group. In 2007, Andrew was used 7 times more than the next ranked name, Andres (Estonian and German). The name Andrew has been predominantly given to boys, though it has also been used as a girl name in the past century. In 1988, boys named Andrew outnumbered girls by 161 times.

Baby names that sound like Andrew include Andreu (Catalan), Andru (English), Ander (Basque), Andor (Hungarian), Andra (Scottish), Andre (English and Portuguese), Andrei (Romanian, Russian, Slavic, and Ukrainian), Andrej (Czech, Russian, and Slavic), Andrey (Russian and Slavic), André (French and Portuguese), Andri (Scandinavian), Andriy (Ukrainian), Andro (Slavic), Andrzej (Polish), Anndra (Scottish), Ondrej (Czech and Slavic), Amyntor (Greek), Andrea (Italian), Andria (Corsican), and Antero (Finnish).

^KEY: Pronunciation for Andrew: AE as in "at (AE.T)" ; N as in "knee (N.IY)" ; D as in "dee (D.IY)" ; R as in "read (R.IY.D)" ; UW as in "two (T.UW)"

Details of famous persons named Andrew:
Actor Andrew Cruickshank, born Andrew John Maxton Cruickshank, 25 December 1907 - 29 April 1988, Aberdeen, Scotland.
Industrialist Andrew Carnegie, born 25 November 1835 - 11 August 1919, Dunfermline, Scotland.
Royalty Prince Andrew, Duke of York, born Andrew Albert Christian Edward, 19 February 1960, London, England.
Tennis Player Andy Roddick, born Andrew Stephen Roddick, 30 August 1982, Omaha, Nebraska.
US President Andrew Jackson, born 15 March 1767 - 8 June 1845, Waxhaw, South Carolina.
US President Andrew Johnson, born 29 December 1808 - 31 July 1875, Raleigh, North Carolina.

Popularity Trend
for Andrew
from 1900 to 2007

Variant Popularity Chart
for Andrew
in 2007