Over 1.3 million American babies have been named Andrew. It was a top 10 boys' name from 1986 to 2007 — a twenty-one-year run that puts it firmly in the late-Cold-War-to-9/11 era of American naming. Today at rank 68, Andrew is doing what classic names do: shedding trend coding and starting to feel timeless again.
The apostle and the Greek root
Andrew comes from the Greek Andreas, derived from aner (genitive andros), meaning "man" or "manly." The apostle Andrew was the first disciple called by Jesus and the brother of Simon Peter, making him a foundational figure across Christian denominations. He's the patron saint of Scotland (the St Andrew's flag is the saltire on the Union Jack), Russia, Greece, and Romania.
That multi-country sainthood matters for naming portability. Andrew has been a top-tier name in Scotland, Russia (as Andrei), Greece (as Andreas), Italy (as Andrea, which is masculine there), Spain (as Andrés), and Portugal (as André) for centuries. The English Andrew is the version that travelled to America and stayed steady.
The audiences picking Andrew now
From a marketing read, Andrew today serves a specific audience: parents who want a name that's familiar without being currently trendy. It's the opposite of a name like Atlas or Theo. Andrew reads as established, slightly traditional, and reliably professional-sounding — which is exactly what a subset of American parents are now looking for after a decade of more inventive picks.
Common nicknames span the cohort: Andy (warm, slightly dated), Drew (sharper, more current — and increasingly used as a standalone first name), Andre (when reaching toward the French or Spanish register). Drew as a separate SSA entry has been climbing while Andrew has descended.
The counter-reading: is Andrew too safe?
The conventional take treats Andrew as the safest possible boys' name pick — too established, too widely used, too lacking in distinctive cultural moment. There's something to the critique. Andrew doesn't carry strong demographic coding the way newer names do, which means it also doesn't carry strong distinctive signal.
For parents in 2025, that absence of coding is the feature. Andrew won't lock a child to a specific decade or aesthetic. It will read as a working professional name across age ranges, in any region, in any career path. Common pairings on naming forums lean traditional: Andrew James, Andrew Michael, Andrew Thomas. Parents weighing Andrew against Alexander tend to choose Andrew when they want shorter rhythm without sacrificing classical weight. The 1990s data shows where Andrew dominated; today it's settling into the long-tenure phase.