Names That Mean Manly

During its Top 10 heyday in the late 90s and early oughts, Andrew was one of the "cooler" classic boy names, an update on the old guard Roberts and Richards.

Andrea — a feminine form of Andrew (and a male name in several European cultures) — comes with a good selection of pronunciations — ANN-dree-a, AHN-dree-a, or ahn-DRAY-a — each with a slightly different image: girl next door/slightly affected/downright mysterious

Drew, which projects a polished, somewhat intellectual impression, is rapidly becoming the Andrew nickname of choice, replacing the past favorite, Andy. It is fully capable of standing on its own, which it has for many decades, non-stop since 1942.

Andreas is a beautiful name, with the patina of an Old Master painting, one that could make a dashing namesake for an Uncle Andrew.

Friendly, unusual, but a decidedly Old Country version of Andrew and one of the classic Scandinavian names. It made a brief appearance in the US Top 1000 in 2006 and then reentered in 2010. Its rising popularity could be attributed to the interest in Anderson, which has been gaining steadily over the last fifteen years.

Trivia tidbits: The patronymic Andersson is the second most popular surname in Sweden, and in Denmark, Donald Duck is called Anders.

Drew is an elegant formerly male-only alternative to Andy that joined the stylishly upscale Paige-Brooke-Blair sorority, thanks largely to Drew Barrymore. Barrymore comes by her first name legitimately: it was the maiden name of her paternal great-grandmother, Georgiana 'Georgie' Drew Barrymore, one of many esteemed actors in her family history.

Andre is one international form that's been familiar in the English-speaking world for decades yet still has not been Anglicized.

Boyish nicknames for girls are all the rage — just look at the success of Charlie, Frankie, Stevie, Billie, and Scottie in recent years. Andie has history as a nickname for Andrea, popularized by actress Andie Macdowell.

Andrea may be a gender neutral name in its native Italy and other European countries, but in the US it's 98 percent a girls' name, with only about 20 males to more than 1800 baby girl given that name in the most recent year counted.

The Spanish form of Andrew is popular enough in the US to rank near the Top 200. As Andrew, Andy, and Drew feel less fresh, Andres is still up-and-coming, with a global feel that could travel well anywhere. Andres has been used in the US dating all the way back to when name data began to be kept, and has never fallen out of the Top 1000. Despite this, it has only been since the 90s that Andres has cracked the Top 200. Andre is a similar-sounding alternative that has French and Portuguese roots.

Very common in early Ireland and still in use there today, it was the name of an eighth century high king and also a saint. Not as well known in this country as Fergus, Fergal is currently appearing as a character on the TV series Catastrophe.

Unusual but accessible multi-cultural choice. In Greek culture, one of many variations of Andreas, including Androu and Ander.

András is the form of Andrew used in Hungary, where it is a Top 50 boy name.

The Finnish form of Andrew is featured in mythology as Antero Vipunen, a giant in Finland's national legend the Kalevala

This unique one-syllable name was added to the mix by Mariel Hemingway for her now grown model/actress daughter; it could make a distinctive middle name or Bree substitute.

A common nickname for Antero, the Finnish variation of Andrew.

Russian, Belarusian, Romanian and Bulgarian form of Andrew

Variant transcription of Andrei

Estonian variation of Andrew.

The Slovene form of Andrew, currently falling in popularity in its home country.