Dru is a short form of Drew, linked to Welsh Andrew forms and ultimately meaning 'manly' or 'strong.'
Dru is usually a streamlined spelling of Drew, which began as a shortened form of Andrew. Andrew comes from the Greek Andreas, derived from aner, andros, meaning “man” or “warrior,” and by extension “strong” or “courageous.” The spelling Dru also sometimes appears as a short form of Drusilla, a Roman family name later adopted in Christian tradition, so the name can have masculine, feminine, or deliberately androgynous resonance.
That ambiguity is part of its modern appeal: it is brief, clear, and unencumbered. Historically, the longer root Andrew has immense weight because of Saint Andrew, one of the apostles and the patron saint of Scotland, among other places. Drew became common as an independent given name in English-speaking countries much later, especially in the twentieth century.
Dru followed as a more stylized spelling, one that feels softer and less conventional. Notable bearers and characters have helped keep the sound in circulation, even if the Dru spelling remains less common than Drew. In literature and popular culture, the related form Drusilla appears in Roman history, Victorian fiction, and television fantasy, while Drew gained a brisk, sporty, all-American reputation.
Dru sits between those worlds: older than it looks in origin, but highly contemporary in presentation. As naming culture has grown friendlier to short, gender-flexible names, Dru has come to signal independence and ease. It distills a long classical history into three letters, making it feel at once ancient in root and very current in style.