Andrea

Where the name comes from

• Ancient Greek, through Latin
  Manly, masculine (from the Greek word for 'man')
  Andreas, from andreios 'manly,' from anēr (genitive andros) 'man'
  Andrea comes from Andreas, the Greek name of the apostle Andrew. Andreas is tied to the adjective andreios, 'manly, masculine, of or for a man; strong.' That word comes from anēr, 'man.' Late Latin Andreas gave rise to Italian Andrea, Spanish Andrés, French André and English Andrew. The name's root meaning is masculine, but in English, Spanish and many other languages Andrea is now used as the feminine form of Andrew.
• Italian
  Same name as Andrew (masculine in Italy)
  Latin Andreas
  In Italy, Andrea is traditionally a man's name, the Italian form of Andrew. Medieval Italian records use Andrea for men, and Italian family names such as D'Andrea and De Andrea come from it.
• Spanish and other European languages
  Feminine form of Andrew
  Andreas, Andrew
  Women named Andrea appear in European records by the 1500s. Records include an Andrea in Spain in 1576, an Andrea in England in 1577, and the French feminine form Andrée in the 1560s. In Spanish, Andrea is the feminine name and Andrés is the masculine form.

Andrea across traditions

• Christian. The name goes back to Andrew, one of Jesus's apostles, who lived about 2,000 years ago. The New Testament describes him as a man from Bethsaida in Galilee, the brother of Simon Peter, and a disciple of John the Baptist. Saint Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland. The X-shaped 'St. Andrew's cross' is said to look like the cross he died on.
• Italian. In Italy, Andrea has long been a man's name. Two famous men of the Italian Renaissance carried it: the painter Andrea Mantegna and the architect Andrea Palladio.
• Spanish and Latin American. In Spanish, Andrea is a woman's name and Andrés is the man's name. A woman named Andrea appears in Spanish records from 1576.
• United States popularity. Peak decade: the 1970s, when it ranked #28 for US girls (SSA). It was still #33 in the 1980s, and it ranks among the top 100 girls' names of the last 100 years.

Who carried it

• Saint Andrew (Andreas) the Apostle (About 2,000 years ago): One of Jesus's apostles and Simon Peter's brother. All forms of the name come from him.
• Andrea Mantegna (1431–1506): Italian painter and engraver, called the first fully Renaissance artist of northern Italy.
• Andrea Palladio (1508–1580): Italian architect whose villas and Four Books of Architecture shaped buildings in Europe and the United States.

Forms in other languages

Andrée, Andrine, Andriana, Andrew, Andrés, André, Andreas, Anders

Andrea in letter-number systems

Hebrew, Greek and other traditions gave every letter a number, and read meaning into the totals. These are the counts, computed; the readings are inside the Innerverse.