Andrew
A surname from the old personal name Andrew, ultimately meaning “manly” or “brave.”
The #2,617 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 22,431 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Andrew is a surname taken directly from the medieval personal name Andrew. The given name comes from Greek Andreas, from aner/andros meaning “man” or “male,” and by extension “manly” or “brave.” As a surname, it usually began as an identifying name for someone who was the son of, or otherwise associated with, a man named Andrew.
History
The name spread widely in Britain because Andrew was a very popular Christian baptismal name, especially after St. Andrew became the patron saint of Scotland. In English records, Andrew appears both as a surname in its own right and as the base for patronymics such as Andrews. Related forms and spellings also developed in Scotland and the Channel Islands, including variants like Andros.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Because the given name Andrew was so common, surnames derived from it could arise independently in many places, not from a single family line.
From the historical record
“The former plan is clumsy, and leads to confusion. Still, either through fondness of their wives or from necessity, some adopt it, and several names run in this form, Andrew Walker (Euphemia Deas)." A list of Gaelic and Gaelicized personal names, with their English equivalents, is given in M 'Alpine's Gaelic…”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)