Andrews (surname)

Andrews (surname)

Andrews is a patronymic surname of English origin. At the time of the British Census of 1881, its relative frequency was highest in Dorset (3.6 times the British average), followed by Wiltshire, Huntingdonshire, Worcestershire, Hampshire, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Devon and Somerset. It is traditionally mainly a Southern English name.

In Ireland it is found largely in Dublin.

Although assumed by many to be a Scottish surname due to the name of that country's patron saint it is in fact rarely encountered. Corresponding Scottish surnames include Anderson and McAndrew.

This however does not mean the surname does not occur in Scotland. Scottish use of the Andrews name can be traced to Caithness in the far north east of Scotland.