Andrea (first name)

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Andrea is a female given name in German and other languages ​​(e.g. English , Swedish , Spanish and Hungarian ), and a male and female given name in Italian and Romansh . In German, the male form is Andreas .

Origin and meaning of the name

In German, as in most other European languages, Andrea is the feminine form , but in Italian and Romansh it has been the masculine form of the name Andreas since at least the 14th century, with the feminine form being Andreína . The name comes from the Greek ανδρεια, andreia = bravery and means something like the (the) brave , the (the) manly . But not the original meaning of this name was and is - at least outside of the Greek language area - the main reason to name a child like this, but the veneration of the holy apostle and martyr Andrew , whose symbol is the X-shaped cross .

In the German-speaking world, the female first name Andrea, which translates from Andreas / André, has been in use since the 18th century. Probably it was taken from Danish or Swedish; but the Italian male name of the same name could also have played a role in the spread of the movied name form. The necessity to move the male first name Andreas / André was probably related to the sponsorship system . The female godchild of Andreas / André was just called Andrea.

From the 1950s to the 1970s, Andrea was one of the most common names for newborn girls in German-speaking countries. In the 1960s, the name was among the top three most popular given names.

According to Swiss naming law , Andrea is one of the first names that do not clearly determine gender, so the first name Andrea must be combined with another clearly male or female first name (e.g. Andrea Luigi, Andrea Kathrin) or clearly the gender in one descriptive form (e.g. Andreas, Andre, André for boys, Andrée, Andreina, Andrina, Andrietta for girls). In 1965 one could z. B. Use the first name Andrea in the female form only in combination with another female first name; however, the first name Andrea could be used in the male form without a middle male first name. Andrea Maria, on the other hand, would only be suitable for a girl in connection with a third, clearly female first name, since male persons can also be called Maria. This also applies to Gabriele and Simone; In Italian, these are not female, but male first names.

Name days

Name bearer

Female first name

Male first name

variants

  • Andi, Andree , Andreana, Andreani, Andy , Changy, Andra, Andreia, Ands, Andrina, Andreea, Anni, Annie
  • Amendmentu, Anzge (Swiss German), Amendmentle (Bern German), Amendmenta ( Senslerdeutsch / Freiburg German)
  • Andreina (Italian language area)
  • Andrina, Andrietta (Rhaeto-Romanic-speaking area)
  • Andika, Andóka, Andicsek, András (Hungarian)
  • Drelei (Lungauerian)
  • Ea (Bavarian)
  • Dretschn (Pongau)
  • Anderl
  • Andrija, Andrej (Croatian)
  • Andreja (female Croatian)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Statistics on Popular-Fornamen.de
  2. ↑ Swiss Association of Civil Registration Officers (ed.): First names in Switzerland . 8th edition, 1965