Andrea

For other uses, see Andrea (disambiguation).
Andrea
Pronunciation /ˈændriə/ AN-dree-ə
/ˈɑːndriə/ AHN-dree-ə
/ɑːnˈdreɪ.ə/ ahn-DRAY-ə
Gender Female, except in Italian, Albanian and Romansh where it is Male
Language(s) Greek aner, andros, "man" (i.e. adult male)
Origin
Meaning manly
Other names
See also Andre, Andy, Andrew, Andie
Look up Andrea in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Andrea (/ˈændriə, ˈɑːn-, ɑːnˈdreɪə/) is a given name which is common worldwide, cognate to Andrew.

It is traditionally popular because, according to the Christian Bible, Saint Andrew was one of the earliest disciples of Jesus and one of the twelve Apostles.

Origin of the name

It derives from the Greek ἀνήρ (anēr), genitive ἀνδρός (andrós), that indicates the man as opposed to the woman (while man in the meaning of human being is ἄνθρωπος, ánthropos, ἀνθρώπου, anthrópou). The original male Greek name, Andréas, (directly etymologically related to andras/άνδρας, man/adult male, husband) 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). The same root ἀνδρ-, andr- denoting the male gender is found e.g. in misandry (the hatred of the male sex), andrology (male physiology), androgens (male hormones) and polyandry (the practice of taking more than one husband at the same time).

In the year 2006, it was the third most popular name in Italy with 3.1% of newborns.[1] It is one of the Italian male names ending in a, with others being Elia (Elias), Enea (Aeneas), Luca (Lucas), Mattia (Matthias), Nicola (Nicholas), Tobia (Tobias). Outside of Italy, the name is generally considered a female name.

Usage

Notable people named Andrea


Women


Men

Notes

  1. ↑ Istituto Nazionale di Statistica 2004.

References