Drew
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Meaning
manly, brave (short form of Andrew); a nod to Charles Drew, physician who pioneered large-scale blood banking and plasma storage
The story
Drew began as the friendly short form of Andrew, a Greek name traditionally read as manly and brave, before earning a birth-certificate life of its own. It carries an honorable association too: Charles Drew, the American surgeon who worked out how to process and preserve blood plasma on a large scale, led the wartime Blood for Britain program, and directed the first American Red Cross blood bank, work that still saves lives every day. As a standalone name, Drew stayed modest through the first half of the twentieth century, gathered speed from the 1950s, then climbed steeply through the 1980s and 1990s, precisely the years Drew Barrymore grew up on screen and made the name feel effortlessly unisex; we cannot prove she powered the climb, but the timing is hard to ignore. It has held near that high-water mark ever since, short, brisk, and modern.
The formal names behind Drew
Drew is an established short form of this name.
Andrew · Greek origin · manly, brave
Drew across languages
One shared root links 9 names across 6 languages.
Shared root: from Greek Andreas, related to "man" and "manly"; the apostle’s name has related forms across languages
The constellation
More branches
How popular is Drew around the world?
In the United States, 5,442 babies were named Drew between 2020 and 2025. In Canada, 55 boys named Drew were born in 2024, the 521st most common name among boys that year.
Drew is on the official records of the United States, Canada, Scotland, Ireland, England and Wales, South Australia, Austria and Brazil.
United States
1 in 4,000
In the United States, 5,442 babies were named Drew between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Drew peaked in the 1990s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure. In 2025 Drew went to 399 girls and 541 boys in the US Social Security record, one of the few names given to girls and boys in nearly equal numbers.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Canada
1 in 3,900
In Canada, 55 boys named Drew were born in 2024, the 521st most common name among boys that year.
In Canada, 39 girls named Drew were born in 2024, the 746th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
Scotland
1 in 5,700
In Scotland, 8 boys named Drew were registered in 2024, the 404th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
Ireland
1 in 6,000
In Ireland, 9 boys named Drew were born in 2025, the 402nd most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
England and Wales
1 in 14,000
In England and Wales, 31 boys named Drew were born in 2025, the 976th most common name among boys that year.
In England and Wales, 12 girls named Drew were born in 2025, ranked 2,278th among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
South Australia
1 in 18,0002017
In South Australia, 1 boy was registered as Drew in 2017.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Austria
1 in 76,000
In Austria, 1 boy named Drew was born in 2025, ranked 1,842nd among boys that year, spellings that differ only by special characters counted together.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
Argentina
last on record 2021
Drew is not on the 2024 record for Argentina, where small counts are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024
Brazil
At the 2022 census, 25 people in Brazil were named Drew, ranked 106,978th, with a median age of 16.
People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
Mexico City City
last on record 2020
Drew is not on the 2022 record for Mexico City, where small counts are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 4 in a year, too few to chart.
Civil-registry acts in Mexico City by registration year. Counts are lower bounds (names under 6 in a month and borough are removed at source) and count name-instances, not people; compound names are split, so “Maria Jose” counts under each part. 2023, a partial extract through 3 Mar with no cell on record for this name, is excluded. Source: Registro Civil of Mexico City, open data portal, registered given names 2000-2023
New Zealand
last on record 2011
Drew is not on the 2025 record for New Zealand, where names under 10 in a year are excluded at source.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time
Not on the record in Spain, Puerto Rico and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Montevideo record for 1940 to 2011: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Drew
Most people given the name Drew in the United States were born between 1980 and 2009. The Drew you meet today is most often in their 20s or 30s.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
Names like Drew · Names that go with Drew · Names of geniuses and inventors · Short names · Gender-neutral names · Truly unisex names
The Drew deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Drew 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 Drew fits with your family’s names and surname.
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