What does Andrea mean?

Question

what does the name andrea mean?

Answer 1

The meaning of the name Andrea is Manly

The origin of the name Andrea is Italian

Info on this name: Form of ANDREW. Can be pronounced ANN-dree-a or Ahn-DRAY-a. Andrea Bocelli, tenor.

Answer 2

You might simply interpret it as "BRAVE (one)" (There are many names of this sort in various cultures, which the personal characteristic is the main thing. I would compare names like "Leonard/Lion-heart(ed)" - bold as a lion, or even the Scottish "Braveheart")


ORIGINS

"Andrea" is a feminine form derived from the GREEK name "Andreas" (whose English masculine form is "Andrew"). This specific form was created in Italian, which borrowed the name from Greek through Latin.

The Greek word means "manhood, valor"; it is based on the Greek word for "man, male" (aner, andros). As a name in Greek it was given to a boy to indicate (or hope for) the ideals of Greek manhood, including bravery in battle.

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WHY a BOYS' NAME ?

This is one of any number of girls' names that started out as MASCULINE names. This is one that may seem particularly odd with the original name meaning "manhood".

There are a few possible explanations for this (though they don't exclude each other).

In this case, the derived sense of "(person of) valor, courage" can be applied to a woman as well as a man.

Another possibility is that the name was given NOT for its 'root-meaning' but for its association with a PARTICULAR individual. In this case, that would most likely be, Saint Andrew (the first of the apostles chosen by Jesus, in the Gospel of John, chapter 1).

Giving his name to a person (whether male or female) might indicate that he was meant as their "patron saint", and/or that the namer wished the child would exhibit the character or achievements of Saint Andrew. Secondarily, the name might be given to associate the person with some other individual bearing that name (including a revered relative).

So, you might think of "Andrea" as meaning "one like [Saint] Andrew".

By the way, babyname web sites and books are, sadly, very inconsistent. They draw on many sources, some very good, some very poorly researched. There are a few very fine name books and sights that are much more reliable (and usually more informative). I highly recommend behindthenames.com (though it occasionally has server problems), or aboutnames.ch