ANDREW VENEZIANO

English form of the Greek name Andreas, a short form of any of various compound names derived from andr- ‘man, warrior’. In the New Testament this is the name of the first disciple to be called by Jesus. After the Resurrection, St Andrew preached in Asia Minor and Greece. He is traditionally believed to have been crucified at Patras in Achaia. He was one of the most popular saints of the Middle Ages and was adopted as the patron of Scotland, Russia, and Greece. It has long been among the most popular boys' names in the English-speaking world, especially in Scotland. Its popularity in England was further enhanced by its use as a British royal name for Prince Andrew (b. 1960), the Duke of York.

Italian: habitational or regional name from veneziano ‘Venetian’ (see Venezia). In the form Venetsianos, this is also found as a Greek family name. The Venetians had many possessions in the Ionian islands and the Aegean, including Crete and Naxos, from the 13th to the 17th centuries, and there was a thriving Greek community in Venice itself.