Andrew

Andrew (m) Originally a Greek name meaning ‘manly.’
As the name of Scotland’s patron saint, Andrew has
naturally long been popular. The Scottish Registrar
General’s Report in 1858 showed it to be the 9th most frequently given name for boys.

It was still in 13th place in 1958, and a recent unofficial
count (1975) indicates that it is currently one of the top
ten names. It has been very much in fashion since the 1950’s in almost every other English-speaking country.

The name’s early association with Scotland is reflected
in the frequency of Scottish surnames which are based on Andrew itself, or on diminutives such as Andie, Andy,
Dand, Dandie, Dandy. These include Anderson, Andrews,
Andison, Drew, Gillanders, Macandrew, etc. ‘Dandy,’ as applied to a silly, foppish man has traditionally been associated with Andrew, but ‘one spoiled by overmuch dandling’ is an alternative origin suggested by Chamber’s Twentieth Century Dictionary. The Latin form of Andrew, Andreas, is sometimes used in Scotland, as are the Gaelic versions, Aindrea and Anndra. Recently Drew has been especially popular as an independent name.

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