A male name. (Latin Andreas, French André, Italian Andrea, Spanish Andres, German, Dutch, Andreas, Russian Andrei); Greek ’Ανδρέας, from άνδρείος ‘manly’. The name of the first disciple called by Jesus, the brother of Simon Peter, and patron saint of Scotland and of Russia. It is a genuine Greek name, found in papyri, but it is unlikely that St Andrew had a Greek name, and in his case it was possible a translation of a Hebrew name. The great popularity of St Andrew in the Middle Ages is shown by his having 637 churches dedicated to him in England alone (it is the 4th most frequent dedication), and is partly accounted for by an apocryphal history of St Andrew and St Matthew, which was declared heretical as early as the 5th C, but versions of which were widely read for many centuries; it was translated into Old English verse and prose. Andrew is not found in England applied to a native before the Conquest, but there is a sub-tenant called Andreas in Domesday Book. From the 12th C it became a general favourite and gave rise to many surnames such as Andrew, Andrewes, Anderson, Dandy, Tandy (the two last from nicknames). It has naturally been particularly common in Scotland. The usual pet-form now is Andy.

Andreas Domesday Book 1086, Curia Regis Rolls 1189-1213, Hundred Rolls 1273, Feudal Aids 130a. Andreu Hundred Rolls 1273. Anderewe Yorks Poll Tax of West Riding of Yorkshire 1379 1379. Dandi Hundred Rolls 1273. Dandy Q.W 1292.

From ‘Ανδρέας; (Andreas) in Syriac Greek, it is a corruption of Greek άνηρ, genitive άνδρος (andros), a man. Andreas, that Galilean fisherman who is one of the foremost of the Apostles, was martyred at Achaian Patras, whence, in C4, some of his relics went to Scotland and thus made of St. Andrew’s the Metropolitan see. St. Andrew, patron saint of Scotland, was also its ‘knightly champion’: hence Andrew, as a Christian name, became extremely popular, as did Anderson, ‘Andrew’s son’, as a surname. (See especially Yonge, pp. 85-86, and Benedictines.)

From Greek ’Ανδρέας; from ανδρεας, manly, brave, courageous.

Greek (masculine) - Manly, brave.

An'-drue, a stout and strong man. An apostle of Jesus Christ, a native of Bethsaida, and brother of Peter. He was at first a disciple of John the Baptist, whom he left to follow Jesus after the testimony of John. John i. 40. See Matt. iv. 18.

Meaning: manly.

A Greek name, meaning: Brave: manly.

A Gaelic name: Aindrea (Anndra, Dial.), Gilleanndrais, English Gillanders, St. Andrew’s gille, Middle Gaelic Andro, Ainnrias, Gille-ainnrias (1467 MS.), Early Irish Andrias; from Latin Andreas, g. Andreœ, from Greek ’Ανδρέας, a reduced double-stemmed name now showing only άνδρ-, man (see neart). Hence Mac-andrew, Gillanders, Anderson.