This unusual name is one of the patronymic forms of the surname "Andrew", which derives from the Greek personal name "Andreas", a derivative of "andreios", meaning "manly", The brother of Simon Peter is called "Andrew" in the Gospels; he preached the Christian faith in the Balkans and in Southern Russia, but returned to Greece, where he was martyred by being crucified on an x-shaped cross; hence the "St. Andrew's" of the Scottish flag. St. Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland, and there is a legend that his relics were brought to Scotland in the 4th Century by St. Regulus, to the place now called St. Andrews. He is also the patron saint of Russia. The personal name is first recorded in England in the Domesday Book of 1086, as "Andreas". Among the many variant forms of the surname are the English patronymics (meaning "son of Andrew") Andrew(e)s, Andress, Andn'ss and Anderson, the Scottish "McAndrew", and the Northern English "Kendrew". Elizabeth Kendrew married Richard Bell at North Otterington in Yorkshire on April 19th 1648. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William Andreu, which was dated 1237, The Fees Court Rolls of Buckinghamshire, during the reign of King Henry 111, "The Frenchman", 1216 - 1272. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

© Copyright: Name Origin Research 1980 - 2024