# Andrea Doria (who the ship was named after) was not a woman, he was a general & a total bad ass!

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andrea-doria-who-the-ship-was-named-after-was-not-a-woman-he-was-a-general-a-total-bad-ass/608462>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [January 5, 2012, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andrea-doria-who-the-ship-was-named-after-was-not-a-woman-he-was-a-general-a-total-bad-ass/608462 "2012-01-05T03:48:16Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\
**Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andrea-doria-who-the-ship-was-named-after-was-not-a-woman-he-was-a-general-a-total-bad-ass/608462/21 "2012-01-09T14:07:57Z")

</div>

> [@Nava](#):
>
> Andrea is a relatively common name in Italy, you see. Italian for “Andrew”.

See, I was under the impression that that -a means female was a general rule in all romance languages. I would expect the male version to be Andreo or just plain Andre.

If I didn’t remember a particular thread of yours, I’d be asking you if you were female as I’ve always supposed.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\
**Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andrea-doria-who-the-ship-was-named-after-was-not-a-woman-he-was-a-general-a-total-bad-ass/608462/22 "2012-01-09T15:00:29Z")

</div>

I always get him confused with Andrea Dworkin. Did the Ottoman navy make a lot of porn, so I can call it even?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\
**Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andrea-doria-who-the-ship-was-named-after-was-not-a-woman-he-was-a-general-a-total-bad-ass/608462/23 "2012-01-09T16:37:32Z")

</div>

> [@BigT](#):
>
> See, I was under the impression that that -a means female was a general rule in all romance languages.

As noted it is of [Greek origin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrea).

My first name is Nikola ( I’m male ) and though in my case it is of Serbo-Croatian origin, it is also common in Italy as a male name. Again, Greek derivation.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\
**Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andrea-doria-who-the-ship-was-named-after-was-not-a-woman-he-was-a-general-a-total-bad-ass/608462/24 "2012-01-09T16:46:58Z")

</div>

> [@Zebra](#):
>
> The ship
> 
> Ann dray a 3 syllables
> 
> Singer
> 
> On dray (like andrew sort of)

Really? I’ve never heard Bocelli called “Andre”. It’s “Ahn - dray - a” for both, as far as I know. (I wasn’t familiar with Andrea Doria before this thread.)

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andrea-doria-who-the-ship-was-named-after-was-not-a-woman-he-was-a-general-a-total-bad-ass/608462.md?page=1)