French feminine form of André, from Greek 'andreios' meaning 'brave' or 'manly.'
Andrée is the French feminine form of André, itself the French rendering of Andrew — from the Greek Andreas, meaning "manly," "brave," or "courageous." Andrew was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus, the first called according to the Gospel of John, and his name spread across Europe with Christianity, producing Andrew in English, Andreas in German and Greek, Andrei in Russian, Andres in Spanish, and André in French. The feminine Andrée carries all of that heritage with a graceful suffix that transforms the martial quality of the root into something more flowing.
The most dramatic historical figure to bear a form of this name is Salomon August Andrée, the Swedish engineer and explorer who in 1897 attempted to reach the North Pole via hydrogen balloon — a journey of extraordinary ambition and fatal miscalculation. His expedition vanished, and the mystery of his fate consumed the public imagination for 33 years until his frozen camp was discovered on White Island in 1930. Though a man bearing the masculine form, Andrée the surname shaped the cultural memory of polar adventure.
On the feminine side, the name was common in France and among French Canadian families throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, often shortened affectionately to Dree. Today Andrée feels elegantly underused — clearly familiar in its roots but distinctive in this feminine French form. It is a name for someone who inherits the courage of its etymology and the poise of its French cadence.