Drewey
A variant of the name Drew, derived from the Old English name Andrew meaning "manly, brave".
Name Census estimates that about 19 living Americans carry the first name Drewey. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Drewey today is around 74 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Drewey births was 1925 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Drewey. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Drewey is about 74 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Dreweys were born before 1962.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Drewey. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
19
~ 1 in 18,039,702 Americans
Peak year
1925
10 babies that year
Average age
74
years old
1977 SSA rank
#6,115
Tracked since 1917
Popularity
Drewey: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Drewey from the 1910s through to the 1970s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 35 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Drewey 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 Drewey during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Drewey
The name Drewey originates from the Old English language and is believed to have roots dating back to the Anglo-Saxon period, around the 5th to 11th centuries. It is thought to be a variant spelling of the name Drew, which itself is a shortened form of the name Andrew, derived from the Greek name Andreas.
Drewey is a masculine name that is believed to have been first used in England and parts of Scotland during the Middle Ages. The name is thought to have evolved from the Old English word "dréogan," which means "to perform" or "to endure," suggesting that the name may have been given to individuals who demonstrated strength, resilience, or perseverance.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Drewey can be found in the Domesday Book, a record of landowners and properties in England compiled in 1086 by order of William the Conqueror. This suggests that the name was in use among the Anglo-Saxon population before the Norman conquest of England in 1066.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Drewey. One of the earliest recorded was Drewey de Lacy (c. 1180-1241), a Norman nobleman and Lord of Pontefract in Yorkshire, England. Another was Drewey Fitzwalter (c. 1260-1326), an English nobleman and military commander who served under Edward I and Edward II.
In the 16th century, Drewey Drury (c. 1520-1567) was an English courtier and Member of Parliament during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Drewey Mytton (c. 1580-1655) was a Welsh landowner and Member of Parliament who fought for the Royalist cause during the English Civil War.
In more recent times, Drewey Wilkinson (1842-1920) was an American businessman and philanthropist who founded the Wilkinson Sword Company, a manufacturer of swords and razors.
While the name Drewey has become less common in modern times, it remains a part of the rich tapestry of names with roots in the history and culture of England and the Anglo-Saxon world.
People
Drewey + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Drewey 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
Drewey: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Drewey?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 19 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Drewey 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 18,039,702 US residents.
Is Drewey a common name?
We classify Drewey as "Very Rare". It ranks above 39.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 81 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Drewey most popular?
The single biggest year for Drewey was 1925, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Drewey is about 74 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Drewey in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Drewey a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Drewey 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 Drewey still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Drewey 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 Drewey 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How common is the name Drewey?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.