Drew
Feminine · “man”
Drew is given to both — 9,493 girls and 78,592 boys since 1880. See Drew as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Drew is the surviving fragment of Andrew, worn down by centuries of English mouths until only one syllable was left — and that syllable turned out to be sturdy enough to stand alone. It has been on American birth records for as long as those records exist, never crowding a classroom, never disappearing either. One sound, four letters, and no one has to ask how to spell it.
How old is the name Drew?
Drew first appears in US birth records in 1918 — 107 years ago. The typical Drew alive today was born around 2007, making them about 18 years old. About 9,300 people named Drew are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Drew most popular?
Drew peaked in 1999, reaching #615 nationally. Today it ranks #705, 90 places below that high. See the whole 1999 chart.
Drew appears on this list:
Where it comes from
From Andreas to Drew
The story of Drew
Drew began as a clipped form of Andrew, the English version of Greek Andreas — the name the Greek New Testament gives to one of the fishermen among the twelve apostles, which is why it spread across Christian Europe in dozens of shapes. Medieval English speakers habitually trimmed the front off long names, and Andrew gave up its first syllable the way Nicholas gave up its last. A separate Drew existed alongside it as an English surname, reaching back to the Norman name Drogo, and surname use kept the spelling in circulation even where the short form of Andrew had faded. In the United States the two streams met, and Drew arrived as a given name in its own right rather than a pet form waiting on a longer original.
Meaning
man, from the Greek for "man"
Drew carries the meaning of Andrew, from Greek Andreas, built on andr-, "man". The English surname Drew has a separate and less certain history, tied to the Norman personal name Drogo.
How the name formed
- Andreas
- Andrew
- Drew
Related forms: Andreas · André · Andrés · Andrea · Andrei · Andrew
Pronouncing Drew
DROO
One syllable, rhyming with "true". The same in American and British English, and easy for speakers of most other languages to approximate.
Nicknames for Drew
Limited
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1918
- Most girls named
- 2025399 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #615reached in 1999
- Change vs 2023
- +7.8%399 in 2025, from 370
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Drew in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Andreas in Greek — related form
- André in French — related form
- Andrés in Spanish — related form
- Andrea in Italian — related form
- Andrei in Russian — transliteration
- Andrew in English — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Ohio.
Drews among us
people named Drew are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 4,028 born in 2025 was named Drew
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Norine test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Drew's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Norine climbed just as high around 1912, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Norine's path sketches the road Drew is walking now.
Drew is on its second act. Revived names age gently: the generation that wore them first is far enough away that the name feels classic rather than dated.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Drew is headed
Drew looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 25% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Drew beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Drew in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- One syllable and four letters, spelled the way an ordinary English word is spelled — rarely misheard, almost never misspelled once heard.
- Works as a full legal name or as the short form of Andrew, so a child can grow into either without paperwork.
- Recorded continuously in American births across every shift in naming fashion, so it reads as neither new nor dated.
- Used for both girls and boys, with the same spelling and pronunciation on either side.
- It leans to boys without settling there, so a girl named Drew will occasionally be read as male on forms, rosters and email before anyone meets her. Most families find this a small, manageable friction rather than a problem.
- There is no shorter form and no obvious affectionate variant — Drew is already the nickname. Some parents choose Andrew on the certificate to keep a longer option in reserve.
- It is also the past tense of "draw", which means autocorrect and casual readers occasionally treat it as a verb. In speech this never comes up.
- Spoken aloud, Drew and Dru are the same name, so the spelling will need saying now and then.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Drew to the vote.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Drew
Feminine · #705 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Drews are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 9,300 people named Drew are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Drew in 2025?
- Drew ranks #705 among US girl names in 2025, with 399 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Drew?
- About 1 in every 4,028 US girls born in 2025 was named Drew — 399 in all.
- Will my child share the name Drew with classmates?
- Drew will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Drew
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Angie#705 · Robin#704 · Angelica#707 · Kennedi#707 · Merritt#703 · Alena#707 · Nia#702 · Averie#701
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Drew? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Drew and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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