This interesting surname, with variant spellings Andre, Andrea, Andree, Andrey, Andress, Andriss, Andri and Anders, is derived from the personal name Andrew, itself coming from the Greek given name "Andreas", a derivative of "anderios" meaning "manly". The modern Andre often appears as Andre with an acute over the final e, sometimes an introduction from France, though one suspects that the accent is not always original. However, this form may be French, and introduced by some of the thousands of French Huguenots who fled to England in the mid to late 17th Century to escape religious persecution on the Continent, especially after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes by King Louis X1V in 1685. The surname was first recorded in the beginning of the 13th Century (see below), and the forms "Andre" and "Andreu" were also found at this time; Geoffrey Andre being recorded in the 1279 "Calendar of Plea and Memoranda Rolls", preserved among the Archives of the City of London. Recordings from London Church Registers include: the christening of Anne, daughter of Pierre and Marianne Andre, French Huguenots, at Westminster, on February 13th 1754, and the marriage of Charlotte Andre and Samuel Taylor on May 8th 1784. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Josep Andree, which was dated 1229, in the "Calendar of the Close Rolls", during the reign of King Henry 111, known as "The Frenchman", 1216 - 1272. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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