A variant of Drew, short for Andrew, from Greek meaning 'manly' or 'brave.'
Dreu is a creative respelling of Drew, the short form of Andrew, which traces its origins to the ancient Greek Andréas, built on anér (man, male human) in the genitive form andrós. The deeper root connects to the Proto-Indo-European ner-, meaning "vigor" or "force," making this a name that has quietly carried connotations of strength across three millennia. Andrew was one of the twelve apostles — the first called by Jesus according to the Gospel of John — and the name subsequently became a patron saint's name for Scotland, Russia, and Greece, spreading the Andrew family of names across the entire northern hemisphere.
Drew emerged as an independent given name in the twentieth century, shedding its role as a mere nickname to stand confidently on its own. It became notably gender-flexible; while historically masculine, Drew gained widespread use for girls in the 1980s and 1990s, propelled in part by actress Drew Barrymore, whose prominent career normalized the name across genders. The spelling Dreu takes that modern gender-neutral sensibility one step further, the altered vowel giving the name a softer, more lyrical quality on the page while preserving its punchy single-syllable sound.
As an unconventional spelling, Dreu signals parents who value individuality without straying far from recognizable phonetic territory — a hallmark of contemporary American naming sensibility. It sits comfortably in the tradition of names like Blu, Lexi, and Emme that use creative orthography to make a familiar sound feel freshly personal.