A male name. Old German Drogo, Gothic Draga, a derivative of dragen ‘to bear’, ‘carry'. The name was introduced into England at the time of the Norman Conquest (it was borne by several of the Conqueror’s followers, notably Drogo de Monte Acuto, ancestor of the English Montagu or Montague and Montacute families), and became common in the French form Dru or English Drew. Drewsteignton (Devon) was held by one Drogo in 121o and is called Teyngton Drue in 1275; Littleton Drew (Wilts) was held by Walter Drew in 1242 and is called Littleton Drewe in 1316. It gave rise to the surnames Drew, Drewe, Drews, Druce, and survived as a christian name as late as the end of the 17th C; Lyford gives Dru in his list of names 1655, and a Drugo Cressener, a Hunts clergyman, d. in 1679. Drogo was revived in the 19th C by the Montagu family (the 7th Earl of Manchester, b. 1823, was christened William Drogo) and they have used it ever since.

Drogo Domesday Book 1086, Curia Regis Rolls 1187-1219. Druet, Druettus or Drogo Hundred Rolls 1273. Drew Lincs 1455. Drue English Register of Oseney Abbey, c. 1460 (E.E.T.S. 133-4) 1460.