Andrew
Meaning
manly, brave
Name day: September 20 in the Roman calendar of saints (Saint Andrew Kim Taegon).
The story
Andrew is the Greek Andreas, rooted in andreios, manly and brave, with apostolic credentials of the first order: Andrew was the first apostle called, a fisherman like his brother Peter, and he became the patron saint of Scotland, whose flag still bears his cross. Scots and their descendants kept the name in steady American use, and it holds a quiet, respectable presence across the early decades of the chart. The remarkable part came late: from the 1960s Andrew climbed and kept climbing, and its strongest run arrived in the closing decades of the twentieth century, when it stood among the top boys' names in the country and stayed high into the 2000s. Presidents Jackson and Johnson had carried it to the White House long before. It has eased off its summit since but remains thoroughly mainstream: a classic that took most of a century to hit its stride.
Andrew around the world
One shared root links 9 names across 6 languages.
Shared root: from Greek Andreas, tied to andros "man, manly"; the apostle's name in a dozen national dresses
The constellation
More branches
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Andrew peaked in the 1980s and the 1990s in nearly equal measure.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
13,923 people · the #1,358 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 14,493 · median age 17
Among people named Andrew living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 2000s than in any other decade.
The census also counted 1,387 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Andrew
Most people given the name Andrew in the United States were born between 1970 and 2009. The Andrew you meet today is most often in his 20s or 30s.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Andrew deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Andrew truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Andrew fits with your family’s names and surname.
Where Andrew travels
Arab American · manly, brave (a common English name chosen by Arab Christian American families)
Korean American · manly, brave (the apostle; a mainstay English pick in Korean American church communities)
Chinese American · a dignified choice across generations of Chinese American families
Keep exploring
Names like Andrew · Nicknames for Andrew · Arab American baby names · Korean American baby names · Chinese American baby names
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