Head to head · Boys' names
Adrian vs Andrew
#74 vs #73 in 2025 · both stepping back from its peak
Andrew is a whisker ahead (#73 vs #74 in 2025) and both are stepping back from its peak. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Andrew leads 4 measures of 6; Adrian leads 0.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Adrian #483, Andrew #28 — Andrew higher
- 1890s: Adrian #442, Andrew #36 — Andrew higher
- 1900s: Adrian #380, Andrew #40 — Andrew higher
- 1910s: Adrian #348, Andrew #45 — Andrew higher
- 1920s: Adrian #357, Andrew #55 — Andrew higher
- 1930s: Adrian #376, Andrew #76 — Andrew higher
- 1940s: Adrian #387, Andrew #81 — Andrew higher
- 1950s: Adrian #359, Andrew #63 — Andrew higher
- 1960s: Adrian #274, Andrew #41 — Andrew higher
- 1970s: Adrian #143, Andrew #27 — Andrew higher
- 1980s: Adrian #106, Andrew #12 — Andrew higher
- 1990s: Adrian #91, Andrew #8 — Andrew higher
- 2000s: Adrian #67, Andrew #8 — Andrew higher
- 2010s: Adrian #59, Andrew #29 — Andrew higher
- 2020s: Adrian #66, Andrew #63 — Andrew higher
Andrew stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Adrian | Andrew |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #483 | #28 |
| 1890s | #442 | #36 |
| 1900s | #380 | #40 |
| 1910s | #348 | #45 |
| 1920s | #357 | #55 |
| 1930s | #376 | #76 |
| 1940s | #387 | #81 |
| 1950s | #359 | #63 |
| 1960s | #274 | #41 |
| 1970s | #143 | #27 |
| 1980s | #106 | #12 |
| 1990s | #91 | #8 |
| 2000s | #67 | #8 |
| 2010s | #59 | #29 |
| 2020s | #66 | #63 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Adrian
- Canada#92
Andrew
Not charting outside the US.
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Adrian
From Hadria — a town on Italy's Adriatic coast
The Roman town of Hadria (modern Adria) also gave its name to the Adriatic Sea, so the watery association is real but second-hand: the name points to the town, and the town named the sea.
Hadria → Hadrianus → Adrianus → Adrian
How it traveled
Hadria sat near the head of the Adriatic, and from it came the Roman family name Hadrianus. The emperor Hadrian, who ordered the wall built across northern Britain in the second century, made it known across the empire; early Christian martyrs and later six popes — among them Adrian IV, the only Englishman ever elected to the papacy, in the twelfth century — carried it through the Middle Ages.
Andrew
manly, brave
From the Greek andreios, manly or courageous, built on aner, a man, in the stem form andros. The same root gives English android and misandry, and it is one of the most productive words in Greek naming.
andreios → Andreas → Andrew
How it traveled
Andrew was the first of the disciples called, according to John's Gospel, and the traditions about him send him east and north — to Greece, where he is said to have been martyred on a diagonal cross, and to the Black Sea. That diagonal cross became the saltire, which is why it is on the flags of Scotland, of Russia's navy, and inside the Union Jack.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Adrian
AY-dree-un
Three syllables, stress on the first. Spanish speakers say ah-dree-AHN with the stress at the end and an accent on the written á; French Adrien is ah-dree-EN. All are the same name, and a bilingual household may simply use both.
- Adri — Informal; widely used in Spanish-speaking families and among younger speakers of both languages.
- Ade — Informal English short form, used at home more often than in writing.
- Ad — Long-standing Dutch clipping of Adriaan, where it also stands alone as a registered given name.
- Arie — Dutch short form of Adriaan that functions as an independent given name in the Netherlands.
Andrew
AN-droo
Two syllables, stress on the first. The Italian Andrea is a man's name said an-DRAY-ah, which regularly confuses English speakers who read it as a woman's name; the two are the same name in different languages.
- Andy — The standard short form, warm and long established; fully unisex in American use and shared with Andrea.
- Drew — Taken from the back of the name rather than the front, which is unusual; it is now a standing given name of its own and reads as considerably more modern than Andy.
- Dre — A shorter clipping from the middle, current in American use and completely detached in sound from the full name.
Who has carried each name
Adrian
No documented entry for Adrian yet.
Andrew
Andrew Carnegie (b. 1835) — Steel titan who gave away his fortune building 2,500 libraries
Andrew Garfield (b. 1983) — Spider-Man and Hacksaw Ridge star
Andrew Jackson (b. 1767) — The president on the $20 bill
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Adrian if you want…
- a name with more sound in itAdrian runs 3 syllables, Andrew 2
- a name that charts abroad tooAdrian is on the national lists of Canada
- a name that feels very nowAdrian is stepping back from its peak
Choose Andrew if you want…
- a name with fewer syllablesAndrew is 2 syllables to Adrian's 3
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 12% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 74% for Adrian
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Adrian
Strengths
- Moves between English and Spanish with nothing but a shift of stress, which matters in bilingual and mixed-language families.
- The English spelling is phonetic: most people write it correctly the first time they hear it.
- An unbroken record from Roman antiquity through medieval saints and popes to the present day, with no gap in use.
To consider
- Three spellings circulate in the United States — Adrian, Adrián, Adrien — so there will be occasional accents to add or remove, and forms that drop the accent altogether.
- English has never settled on one short form. Adrian tends to be used in full, and if you want a nickname you will likely be the one to choose it.
- Well used for a long stretch and now easing back from its high point, so it reads as familiar to almost everyone without filling a classroom.
Andrew
Strengths
- It has been in continuous use in English for the better part of a thousand years and has never sounded dated.
- Andy and Drew are both fully established and belong to different generations, so a boy has real range.
- Every European language has a form of it, which makes it unusually portable.
To consider
- It reached the very top of the American list within living memory, so a man of a certain age will have shared classrooms with several.
- Andrew and Andrea are the same name in Italy and different names here, which causes confusion abroad.
- Nearly every child given this spelling is a boy; the girls in the record are few enough that no form will expect one.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Adrian
74%chance Adrian feels dated by 2040
Adrian is coming down from a big peak (#56 in 2008). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
Andrew
12%chance Andrew feels dated by 2040
Andrew has held the top-100 across 15 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Adrian and Andrew in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
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More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists that carry both names
- Distinctly American names
- America's top 100 names right now
- Vowel names: soft starts from A to O
- all guides
Every list here names both Adrian and Andrew — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Adrian or Andrew — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Adrian or Andrew?
- Andrew, in 2025: Andrew ranked #73 with 4,497 babies; Adrian ranked #74 with 4,464 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Adrian or Andrew?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Adrian moved down 16 places; Andrew moved down 21 places.
- Which is the older name, Adrian or Andrew?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Adrian and Andrew?
- About 256,000 people named Adrian are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 1,138,000 people named Andrew are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Adrians or Andrews in the classroom?
- Adrian will almost certainly be the only one in school. Andrew will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025; international figures from national statistics agencies. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
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