RussianGreek rootApostle
Meaning: manly, courageous — built on the Greek word for a man.
Andrei
| Origin | Russian form of Greek Andreas, taken in with the Byzantine church |
|---|---|
| Meaning | Manly, courageous, from Greek andreios (manly), which is built on anēr, stem andr- (man) |
| Pronunciation | ahn-DRAY, stress on the second syllable; the Russian ending sits nearer DRYAY than DRAY |
| Popularity | Outside the current U.S. top 100 and uncommon in America; a plain, well-used name in Russia, and the ordinary Romanian form as well |
| Variants | Andrew, André, Andrés, Andrea, Andreas, Andrzej, Andrey |
| Nicknames | Andryusha, Andryukha, Dyusha |
| Feast day | 30 November in the Orthodox calendar, which falls on 13 December by Russia's civil calendar |
History & meaning
Greek has anēr for a man, with the stem andr-, and from it the adjective andreios, manly or brave. Andreas is that adjective turned into a name, and it was already ordinary in the Greek-speaking world when a fisherman from Bethsaida carried it into the gospels. Orthodox tradition calls him Protokletos, the First-Called, because in John's account Andrew follows Jesus before his brother Simon Peter does. A tradition recorded well after the fact has him put to death at Patras on an X-shaped cross, which is why a saltire stands for him on the Scottish flag and on the ensign of the Russian navy.
Russia claimed him early. The Primary Chronicle sends Andrew up the Dnieper on a journey north, blessing the hills where Kyiv would later rise and planting a cross on one of them — a story written down more than a thousand years after the supposed event, and told to give the Rus an apostle of their own. It worked. Peter the Great founded the Order of St Andrew in 1698 as the empire's highest honour and gave the fleet the blue saltire it still flies. Ukrainian has its own name from the same Greek, Andriy, which is a separate name in a separate language and not a respelling of Andrei; St Andrew's Church in Kyiv stands on the hill from the legend. Like nearly every everyday Russian name, this one is Greek underneath, and the Kirill page sets out how they all arrived.
Why parents choose it
The English Andrew is still inside the U.S. top 100, at #73, but it has been sliding for three decades and sounds it. Andrei carries exactly the same meaning with none of that wear, and the second-syllable stress gives it a lift that Andrew lost somewhere around 1990.
Middle names for Andrei
End-stressed and light on consonants, so give the middle some bulk: Andrei Nikolai, Andrei Thomas, Andrei Sebastian, Andrei Lev. The middle names guide works through the rhythm in detail.
Famous Andreis
Andrei Rublev painted the Trinity icon around 1425 and was canonised by the Russian church in 1988. Andrei Tarkovsky made only seven features, one of them about Rublev, and changed what a film could be slow enough to do. Andrei Sakharov designed the Soviet hydrogen bomb, spent the rest of his life opposing the state that built it, and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1975.
Consider instead
Andrew is the same name with no explaining to do. Alexei keeps the Russian register with a softer landing. Anton is shorter and travels further west without changing shape.