Given name & surname
Drea
“manliness”·“virility”
Drea is a form of Andrea. For the English feminine name, one alternative theory points to Greek andreia, “manliness” or “virility.” This is a proposed route of formation, not a settled translation covering every use of Andrea.
Original GreekΔρέα
Meaning & origin
What it means
Drea is a form of Andrea. For the English feminine name, one alternative theory points to Greek andreia, “manliness” or “virility.” This is a proposed route of formation, not a settled translation covering every use of Andrea.
Explained through its name family
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Greek.
How it developed
Drea is used as a form of Andrea. Drea is a form of Andrea. The shared background comes through Andrea: The Italian and English traditions should be read separately. The English name may be a feminine adaptation of Andreas; another explanation treats it as a learned coinage from andreia. The evidence does not establish one route with certainty.
Combines direct and name-family evidence
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1973. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin. Drea is a form of Andrea. The history of Andrea gives this family its wider story. The English feminine name is documented from the seventeenth century rather than the Middle Ages. That later appearance is part of the reason its origin has been debated separately from Italian masculine Andrea.
Combines direct and name-family evidence
Drea through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 858
- 0 boys · 858 girls
- Most popular year
- 2005
- 50 babies
- 2025
- 14
- #7,588 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −5%
- Steady
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 14 U.S. birth records for girls, ranking No. 7,588 among girls’ names. Average annual use for girls was 5.3% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for girls was 50 in 2005. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 1,023 as a first name in 2020; 229 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Drea’s family of names
Drea is a form of Andrea. Drea has a related form in Dria. Drea has a related form in Dreah.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 5
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 4
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 2
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Drea
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
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