The name Andrew may just be the manliest baby boy name around.
Why do I say that?
Well, because it's based on the Greek word for "manly," andreios. (This word is in turn based on the Greek word for "man," andros.)
Andrew has been a consistently popular name for baby boys in the U.S. for quite some time. It's ranked among the top 100 boy names in the nation for well over a century, and even ranked in the top 1,000 for females during most of the 1980s. More recently, it's landed in the top 10 every year (but one) since 1986.
The name is also popular in many other countries throughout the world, such as Australia, Canada, England, Ireland, Scotland and Norway. Of course, each of these countries uses its own variation of the name. Some of these variations include Anders (Scandinavian), Andrea (Italian), Andrejs (Latvian), Andrzej (Polish), Antero (Finnish), Andrej (Croatian & Slovene) and Andras (Hungarian).
There are also a number of feminine variants of the name, such as Andrea (English, Spanish, German, Swedish, etc.), Andree (French), Andreja (Croatian & Slovene).
Some of the most famous men named Andrew include:
- Andrew the Apostle (patron saint of Scotland, fishermen, etc.)
- Saint Andrew of Crete (and several other St. Andrews)
- Andrew I of Hungary (and several other King Andrews)
- Prince Andrew, Duke of York (and several other Prince Andrews)
- Andrew Jackson, U.S. president
- Andrew Johnson, U.S. president
- Andrew Carnegie, businessman and philanthropist
- Andrew Lloyd Webber, composer
- Andrew Fielding Huxley, Nobel Prize winner
- Andrew Clayton, Olympic swimmer
- Andrew Lang, writer
- Andrew Marvell, poet
- Andrew Murray, tennis player
- Andrew Sachs, actor
Andrew is often shortened to Andy or Drew for everyday use. As far as more creative spellings for the name (and nicknames), there are options like Andru, Ondrew, Andie and Dru.
