Drew
Of English origin, Drew means "manly" or "brave".
Name Census estimates that about 82,359 living Americans carry the first name Drew. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 89.6% of registrations being male. The average person named Drew today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Drew births was 1995 (2,460 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Drew. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Drew with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
82K
~ 1 in 4,162 Americans
Peak year
1995
2,460 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
2024 SSA rank
#542
Tracked since 1880
Census
Drew in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 80,028 people with the first name Drew, which placed it at #662 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#662
National first-name rank
People counted
80K
80,028 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
26.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
85.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Drew
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Drew is White at 85.8%. The next largest groups are Black (4.5%) and Hispanic (4.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Drew described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Drew at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White85.8% · 68,635
- Black or African American4.5% · 3,612
- Hispanic or Latino4.2% · 3,392
- Two or more races3.7% · 2,973
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 962
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 454
Gender
Gender distribution for Drew
Drew leans heavily male at 89.6% of total registrations, but 9,093 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Drew as a male name
- Ranked #542 in 2024
- 550 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1985 (2,276 births)
Drew as a female name
- Ranked #695 in 2024
- 404 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (404 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Drew leans strongly male. 73,127 people counted with this name were male (91.4%), compared with 6,904 female bearers (8.6%).
Popularity
Drew: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Drew from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 21,486 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Drew by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Drew during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Drews live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, Pennsylvania, Texas recorded the most babies named Drew, while Vermont, Alaska, Delaware recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 1,584 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Drew
The name Drew has its origins in the Old English language and can be traced back to the 8th century AD. It is derived from the Old English word "dreu," which means "servant" or "man." The name is believed to have been particularly popular in Anglo-Saxon England.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Drew can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of land ownership in England conducted in 1086 under the orders of William the Conqueror. The name is listed as a personal name among the landowners and tenants of the time.
In the Middle Ages, the name Drew was often associated with individuals from the lower social classes, as it reflected their status as servants or workers. However, over time, the name gained wider acceptance and was adopted by families from various backgrounds.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Drew. One of the earliest known figures was Drew Noyes (1609-1689), an English Puritan minister who emigrated to Massachusetts and became a prominent figure in the early colonial era of New England.
Another notable Drew was Drew Pearson (1897-1969), an American journalist and author who was known for his influential daily newspaper column, "Washington Merry-Go-Round," which provided insider information and gossip from the political scene in Washington, D.C.
In the world of sports, Drew Brees (born 1979) is a former professional American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons, primarily with the New Orleans Saints. He is considered one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history and led the Saints to their first Super Bowl victory in 2010.
In literature, Drew Gilpin Faust (born 1947) is an American historian and the former president of Harvard University. She is known for her groundbreaking work on the American Civil War and its impact on society, particularly her book "This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War."
Finally, Drew Barrymore (born 1975) is an American actress, producer, director, and author who has been in the entertainment industry since childhood. She is best known for her roles in films such as "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial," "Charlie's Angels," and "Scream."
Notable bearers
Famous people named Drew
People
Drew + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Drew as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with D
Other first names starting with D with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Drew: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Drew?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 82,359 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Drew going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 4,162 US residents.
Is Drew a common name?
We classify Drew as "Uncommon". It ranks above 99.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 87,138 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Drew most popular?
The single biggest year for Drew was 1995, when 2,460 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Drew is about 31 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Drew in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 80,028 people with the name Drew, or 26.50 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #662 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Drew in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Drew?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Drew leans strongly male. 73,127 people counted with this name were male (91.4%), compared with 6,904 female bearers (8.6%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Drew?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Drew is White at 85.8%. The next largest groups are Black (4.5%) and Hispanic (4.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Drew most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Drew in the 2020 Census, accounting for 85.8% (68,635 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Drew in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Drew a male name?
Yes, 89.6% of people registered as Drew in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Drew still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Drew in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Drew can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are called Drew?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.