Andrea

Origin of the name

The name derives from the Greek word ἀνήρ (anēr), genitive ἀνδρός (andrós), that refers to man as opposed to woman (whereas man in the sense of human being is ἄνθρωπος, ánthropos). The original male Greek name, Andréas, represents the hypocoristic, with endearment functions, of male Greek names composed with the andr- prefix, like Androgeos (man of the earth), Androcles (man of glory), Andronikos (man of victory).

In the year 2006, it was the third most popular name in Italy with 3.1% of newborns. It is part of the Italian male names ending in a, some others being Elia (Elias), Enea (Aeneas), Luca (Lucas), Mattia (Matthias), Nicola (Nicholas), Tobia (Tobias). In recent and past times, it has also been used on occasion as a female name in Italy and in Spain, where it is considered the legitimate feminine form of Andrés/Andreo/Andreu (Andrew). Outside of Italy, the name is generally considered a female name.

Usage

In Czech, Slovak, Polish, Slovenian, Dutch, English, French, German, Hungarian, Indonesian, Scandinavian languages and Spanish, Andrea is a feminine name. Masculine forms are Andrej, Ondřej, Andrzej, Anže, Andrew, Andreas, András, Andrey, Andreo, Andrés, Anders, Andries or Andre. However, many Swiss men regardless of first language are also named Andrea, if followed by a masculine middle name to comply with Swiss naming law.

In Albanian Andrea is a masculine name; its native form is Ndrea.

In Romansh Andrea is also a masculine name.

In Italian, Andrea is primarily a masculine name. Some men of Italian descent, from countries where Andrea is feminine, bear the name.

In Bulgarian Andrea (Андреа) is used as the feminine form of "Andrei".

In Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia, Andrea is a feminine name; Andreja can be used as female name, while Andrija, Andro and Andrej are masculine forms. The only exception is Istria, where Andrea is a male name.

In Romania Andreea is a feminine name and it is written with an extra "e". However, the feminine variation Andrea is also used. Andrea as etymon means knitting needle in Romanian. Andrei is the masculine form.

Andréia is the most common Portuguese spelling of this name, although Andréa is also used in Brazilian Portuguese. The masculine form is André.

In Dutch, Andrea is used as a female name, although the variant Andrée is found in French.

In Spanish, Andrea and variations spelled Andreina and Andressa are used as female variants for Andrey, Andreo, and Andrés.

In Basque, Andrea and Andere exist as female names. Two etymons merge in the former: the most widespread form with a Greek root, 'man', and the Basque-Aquitanian ancient form "andere(a)", present-day "andere(a)" and "andre(a)", 'madam', 'lady' (used mainly as title, e.g. "Andramari", 'Lady/Virgin Mary'), as opposed to "jaun", 'lord'. In popular usage, it can ultimately mean 'adult woman'.

Notable people

Women

Andrea Aagot (born 2000), Danish handball player

Andrea Ablasser, German immunologist

Andrea Abrams, American anthropologist

Andrea Abreu (born 1995), Spanish writer

Andrea Absolonová (1976–2004), Czech model and diver

Andrea Acciaioli, Italian noblewoman

Andrea Ackerman, American artist, theorist and writer

Andrea Adams (1946–1995), British journalist

Andrea Aldana (born 1989), Guatemalan sailor

Andrea Alfaro, American New Zealand aquaculture and marine ecology academic

Andrea Alfiler (born 1979), American soccer player

Andrea Alföldi (born 1964), Hungarian race walker

Andrea Allan (born 1946), American actress

Andrea Amaya (born 2003), Salvadoran footballer

Andrea Ammon (born 1958), German physician

Andrea Amort, Austrian author and historian

Andrea Anacan, New Zealand karateka

Andrea Anders (born 1975), American actress

Andrea Anderson (born 1977), American sprinter

Men

Andrea Abodi (born 1960), Italian politician and business executive

Andrea Accardi (born 1995), Italian footballer

Andrea Accordi, Italian chef

Andrea Matteo Acquaviva (1458–1529), Italian nobleman and condottiero

Andrea de Adamich (1941–2025), Italian racing driver

Andrea Addobbati (born 1964), Italian economic historian

Andrea Adolfati, 18th century Italian composer

Andrea Adorante (born 2000), Italian footballer

Andrea Adorno, Italian Army officer

Andrea Agathangelou (born 1989), South African cricketer

Andrea Aghini (born 1963), Italian rally driver

Andrea Agnelli (born 1975), Italian businessman

Andrea Agostinelli (born 1957), Italian footballer and coach

Andrea Agresti (born 1953), Italian politician

Andrea Agrusti (born 1995), Italian race-walker

Andrea Aguyar (died 1849), Uruguayan slave turned soldier and revolutionary

Andrea Aiuti (1849–1905), Italian Catholic prelate

Andrea Alberti (born 1985), Italian footballer

Multiple people with the same surname

Andrea Adamo

Andrea Aguilera

Andrea Álvarez

Andrea Arrigoni

Andrea Bacchetti

Andrea Bellini

Andrea Benetti

Andrea Benítez

Andrea Brown

Andrea Caroppo

Andrea Conti

Andrea Cornaro

Andrea Corsini

Andrea Cossu

Andrea Crespo

Andrea Dandolo

Andrea De Marchi

Andrea di Firenze

Andrea Dotti

Andrea Favilli

Andrea Fernández

Andrea Ferrara

Andrea Ferrari

Andrea Ferretti

Andrea Gill

Andrea Goldsmith

Andrea González

Andrea Green

Andrea Guerra

Fictional characters

Andrea, a character from Daria

Andrea, a character in The Walking Dead

Andrea Cantillo, a character from Breaking Bad

Andrea Theresa "Andy" Carmichael, a character in the 1985 American adventure comedy The Goonies

Andrea Davenport, a character from The Ghost and Molly McGee

Andrea Marino, a character from Ghost Whisperer

Andrea Margulies (Rubbermaid), a mutant character in the Marvel Universe

Andrea "Andy" McNally, a character from Rookie Blue

Andrea 'Andy' Sachs, the main character of The Devil Wears Prada, both the book and the film

Andrea Waltham, Emily's mother in NBC sitcom Friends

Andrea Young, a character from the book series, My Weird School

Andrea Zuckerman, a character on "Beverly Hills 90210'’

Andrew DeLuca, (real name Andrea) a Doctor in '’Grey's Anatomy"

Andrea, (known as Andi) one of the main characters in Knights of Guinevere