Andrew is the navy blazer of boy names. It fits a toddler with mud on both knees, a teenager on the track team, and the man signing a mortgage thirty years later, and it never once feels like a costume. Parents reach for it when they want strength without swagger.
The name is Greek, built on andreios, meaning manly or courageous, itself rooted in aner, the Greek word for a man, and it reached English through Andrew the Apostle. That double inheritance, a soldier’s root and a fisherman saint, is why it lands as friendly rather than forceful. It has appeared in US birth records every year since 1880 and still sits inside the top 100.
Verdict: Andrew is a forever name. It carries three well-worn nicknames, it is recognized in nearly every European language, and it has never needed a comeback because it never left.
Andrew Overview
- Meaning: Andrew is a Greek name meaning manly, courageous, or strong. It is also a biblical name, which is how it spread to nearly every Christian country.
- Gender: Andrew is given to boys in almost every case. Female forms such as Andrea and Andrina do the job on the girls’ side.
- Origin: Greek, from Andreas. Andrew the Apostle, the brother of Simon Peter and the first disciple Jesus called, carried the name into Europe.
- Pronunciation: AN-droo is standard in American English. AAHN-droo turns up in some regional and non-US accents.
- Popularity: 73rd for boys in the US in 2025, with 4,497 babies given the name that year. Half of all Andrews on record were born by 1988.
- Nicknames: Andy, Andre, Androminator, Dre, Drew, Drew-Bear, Drewby, Drey.
- Variations: Aindrea, Andria, Anders, Andraž, André, Andros, Andreea, Andreia, Andressa, Andreu, Andreus, Andrėja, Andri, Andrijana, Andžejs, Andrius, Andriy, Andrzeja.
- Namesakes: Andrew Garfield, Andrew Jackson, Andrew Lincoln, Andrew (“Andy”) Murray.
What Does Andrew Mean?
Andrew means manly, courageous, or strong. The chain behind that translation matters, because it explains why the name reads as brave rather than merely male. It comes from the Greek boy’s name Andreas (1).
Andreas was formed from the adjective andreios, meaning manly or courageous, which in turn came from aner (genitive andros), the Greek word for a man as opposed to a woman. In Ancient Greek usage andreios was the word you reached for to describe a soldier’s nerve, so the honest gloss sits closer to brave than to male. That is the quality parents are picking up on when they call Andrew a sturdy name without being able to say why.
Where Does the Name Andrew Come From?
Andrew is the English form of the Greek Andreas, and it travelled out of Greece on the back of one man. Without the apostle, this would be a footnote name in classical dictionaries.
In the New Testament, Andrew is a Galilean fisherman and the brother of Simon Peter. The Gospel of John records the first thing he did with the news: Saint Andrew went to find his brother Simon and said, “We have found the Messiah.” The Eastern Orthodox Church still calls him Protokletos, the First-Called, and that title comes directly from this passage.
Tradition holds that he was crucified at Patras in Achaea around AD 60 on an X-shaped cross, the crux decussata now known as a Saint Andrew’s Cross. That shape became the saltire on Scotland’s flag. He is patron saint of Scotland, Greece, Russia, Ukraine, Romania, Cyprus, Barbados, and Georgia, which is why medieval Europe adopted the name wholesale and why it has stayed common in English-speaking countries ever since.
How Popular Is the Name Andrew?
Andrew ranked 73rd for American boys in 2025, when 4,497 newborns were given the name, according to Social Security Administration birth records (2). That is the sweet spot for a lot of parents: common enough that nobody asks how to spell it, uncommon enough that a class list rarely holds two.
The high-water mark was 1987, when 36,206 American boys were named Andrew, and the best rank followed a year later at 5th in 1988. Half of everyone on record with the name had been born by that same year, so the typical Andrew is a man in his late thirties rather than a baby or a grandfather. That is the practical read on the chart: far enough back that the name feels established, not so far back that it sounds like a revival project.
Across the whole record, 1,329,454 American boys have been named Andrew since 1880, roughly one boy in 380. The direction of travel is downward now, and it is worth reading correctly. Andrew did not collapse; it stepped out of the top 10 while softer vowel endings like Liam and Noah took those slots. A name listed every year for 146 years that still sits inside the top 100 is not a name at risk of sounding dated.
How Do I Pronounce Andrew?
Andrew is pronounced AN-droo, two syllables, stress on the first. The d and r run together, so it comes out closer to AN-droo than AND-rue.
Some speakers lengthen the opening vowel to AAHN-droo, which you hear more in some regional and non-US accents than in American English. Neither version causes confusion, and the name survives a phone call and a coffee-shop order without being repeated, which is more than most names manage.
Is Andrew a Boy or Girl Name?
Andrew is a popular name for boys and is almost never used for girls. The federal records put a number on the almost: 6 girls were given the name in 2025 against 4,497 boys, and girls make up 0.37 percent of everyone on record with it, 4,961 in total. So it appears on the girls’ side, but barely, and no parent should expect an Andrew to be mistaken for a daughter.
The nicknames are a different story. Andy (or Andie) and Drew both run unisex, usually as short forms of Andrea, Andrina, or Drusilla rather than Andrew itself. If you like the sound of Drew for a girl, you get it without the birth certificate.
Variations of Andrew
Almost every European language kept its own version of Andreas, which makes Andrew unusually portable. A child named Andrew has a native-sounding equivalent in most of the countries his grandparents might have come from.
Here are the most distinct international variations:
- Anders: Scandinavian
- André: French and Portuguese
- Andreas: German, Greek, and Scandinavian
- Andrei: Russian and Romanian
- Andres: Spanish and Estonian
- Andrea: Italian (in Italy, Andrea is a male name)
- Andriy: Ukrainian
- Antti: Finnish
- Ondrej: Czech and Slovak
- Andrzej: Polish
Nicknames for Andrew
Andrew gives you more usable nicknames than most classics, and they cover different personalities. That matters more than it sounds: a boy who hates his short form for ten years has somewhere else to go.
Common Nicknames:
- Andy: friendly, open, the default for most of the last century.
- Drew: cooler and more clipped, and increasingly used as a full name in its own right.
- Dre: rhythmic and modern, borrowed from the way André shortens.
Creative & Rare Nicknames:
- Roo: pulled from the second syllable of And-roo. Sweet on a baby, easy to retire at eight.
- Anders: the Scandinavian form used as a nickname, which reads older and a little formal.
- Ace: a stretch nickname, usually earned rather than assigned.
Names Similar to Andrew
If you like Andrew for its biblical weight and its everyday ease but want something less familiar, these sit in the same territory. The first three are the closest matches in feel.
- Matthew: the nearest twin. Another New Testament name with a soft nickname (Matt) and the same unhurried, friendly register.
- Daniel: shares Andrew’s good-guy reputation and its two-syllable balance, with Dan and Danny doing the work Andy does.
- Alexander: the other Greek heavyweight. Longer and grander, but built from the same warrior vocabulary.
- Caleb: biblical with a rougher, Old Testament edge.
- Joseph: another name that has never had a fashionable decade because it has never had an unfashionable one.
- Luke: shorter and punchier, another New Testament name.
- Zachary: a higher-energy option that peaked around the same era.
- Aaron: softer and vowel-led, and it sits well beside Andrew in a sibling set.
Names That Moved With Andrew
Set Andrew against the other boys’ names of the last 45 years and a handful of them turn out to have risen and fallen on almost exactly the same schedule. These are not sound-alikes. They are names that shared Andrew’s decades, which makes them a good guide to what a parent drawn to Andrew is usually weighing against it, and a good source of brothers’ names.
The three closest are plotted above. Here is where all six stand now:
- Anthony: peaked in 1987, the same year Andrew did, but took its best rank of 7th much later, in 2007, which makes it the slowest burner here. At 46th in 2025 it is the highest-ranked name of the group.
- Kevin: the early one. It peaked in 1965 and hit 11th in 1963, a generation before Andrew’s high, then fell much further, to 221st in 2025.
- Jonathan: peaked in 1985 and reached 15th in 1988, the same year Andrew reached 5th. The two have eased down together ever since, and Jonathan sits 89th today.
- Ryan: peaked in 1985 and reached 11th in 1986. It ranks 99th in 2025, holding the bottom edge of the top 100.
- Joshua: peaked in 1985 but did not take its best rank, 3rd, until 2002. It ranks 66th today.
- Brandon: peaked in 1985 and reached 6th in 1992, then dropped harder than any other name on this list, to 261st in 2025.
All six are still falling, which is the honest picture: this whole cohort of late-1980s boys’ names is handing the top 10 to a different sound. Anthony and Joshua have held up best, with Andrew just behind, though Andrew still has the deepest history to fall back on.
Middle Names for Andrew
Andrew ends on a soft, open sound, so it takes a wide range of middle names without clashing. The rule of thumb: give it something with a different rhythm.
Traditional & Royal Middle Names
These lean into the classic side of the name.
One-Syllable Middle Names
A short middle name gives the full name a clipped, confident rhythm.
- Andrew Jude
- Andrew Hayes
- Andrew Cole
- Andrew Rhys
- Andrew Scott
Modern & Nature-Inspired Middle Names
Use the middle slot for the risk you did not want to take on the first name.
- Andrew River
- Andrew Silas
- Andrew Grey
- Andrew Orion
- Andrew Fox
Sibling Names for Andrew
Andrew pairs easily because it is neither vintage-revival nor modern-invented. The brothers’ list below leans on names whose popularity curve tracked Andrew’s own, so a sibling set stays consistent in era rather than jumping decades.
For a Brother
For a Sister
Famous People Named Andrew
Presidents, saints, steel barons, and Spider-Man have all answered to it.
- Andrew Jackson: seventh President of the United States and the general who won the Battle of New Orleans.
- Andrew Garfield: British-American actor, known for Spider-Man and for an Academy Award nomination for Hacksaw Ridge.
- Andrew Carnegie: Scottish-born steel magnate who gave away most of his fortune, largely to public libraries.
- Andy Murray: Scottish tennis player, former world number one and three-time Grand Slam singles champion.
- Andrew Lincoln: British actor, best known as Rick Grimes in The Walking Dead.
- Andy Warhol: born Andrew Warhola, the central figure of American pop art.
Andrew in Pop Culture
Fictional Andrews skew warm, funny, or quietly stubborn, which tracks with how the name reads in real life.
- Andy Davis: the boy who owns the toys in Pixar’s Toy Story films.
- Andy Dwyer: the goofy, good-hearted musician played by Chris Pratt in Parks and Recreation.
- Andy Bernard: the a cappella-singing salesman from the US version of The Office.
- Andy Dufresne: the patient, unbreakable banker at the center of The Shawshank Redemption.
FAQs About the Name Andrew
Here are the questions parents ask most often before settling on Andrew.
