The baby name Crew blends buttoned-up style with a rough-and-tumble vibe.
Thanks to Chantal for suggesting our Baby Name of the Day.
CREW CUT
As hair cuts go, a crew cut is pretty traditional. It was the go-to choice for GIs during World War II. It’s everywhere in mid-century America, and still a common, conservative option today.
The cut gets its name – at least in American English – from the sport.
That’s because men who rowed crew in the early 1900s, mostly at Ivy League schools in the United States, adopted the short cut to keep hair out of their eyes while racing.
Preppy and clean cut, the style inspired American clothier J. Crew.
And while the sport has become widespread, the idea of crew retains that polish.
MOTLEY and WRECKING
The baby name Crew has a little bit of a split personality.
For every one who thinks rowing or J Crew, there are others who hear it and think motley or wrecking.
A motley crew originally referred to a band of pirates.
Respell it slightly, toss in a heavy metal umlaut or two, and there’s 80s glam metal band Mötley Crüe.
A wrecking crew might be a demolition team in construction. But it’s since been applied in dozens of other senses, from sports to a famous group of session musicians. (You’ve heard their work, backing everyone from Frank Sinatra to Cher, even if you don’t know it.)
In fact, the English word originally comes from the Latin crescere – to grow. In Old French, a creue or crue referred to an increase in military recruits. By the sixteenth century, the word meant the band of recruits themselves. We can assume that some were orderly; others, not so much.
In a more netural sense, you might refer to a group of friends as your crew. It’s a word name, but once tinted with warmth, mischief, and achievement, depending on the context.
MARDI GRAS
In New Orleans, you might belong to a krewe. Krewes put on the city’s famous Mardi Gras celebrations, sponsoring floats and parades.
That could put them on the rowdy wrecking/motley side of the line. But it’s worth noting that krewes are full-blown civic organizations, known for significant charitable work.
The world-famous Krewe of Rex parades on Mardi Gras itself; the foundation associated with the club has granted millions of dollars to New Orleans public schools, as well as other efforts.
SURNAME NAME
But none of this explains how the baby name Crew came into use.
Like so many choices, it started out as a surname.
Mr. Crew didn’t row.
Instead, he probably came from an English town, north of London and south of Manchester on the Welsh-English borders. The name started out as Cryw in Welsh, or possibly criu. It originally referred to a weir, a dam-like structure used in a stream to trap fish, though it can also mean crossing.
There’s also the similar Carew, from a place name derived from the Welsh word for fort and another meaning hill.
You might think of the fictional Sara Crewe, created by Frances Hodgson Burnett for her enduring novel A Little Princess.
BY the NUMBERS
Like so many place-names-turned-surnames, Crew eventually made its way to the given name spot.
But unlike Hunter or Carter or Reid, this is a relatively new name. The baby name Crew first appears in US data pretty late – not until 1995.
That tracks with the expansion of J Crew. The company adopted the name in 1983, opened its first store in 1989, and became a 1990s staple.
It made its first appearance in the US Top 1000 in 2011.
BY the NUMBERS
The baby name Crew climbed in use from 2011 through 2017, reaching #715.
But then television design duo, Chip and Joanna Gaines, welcomed baby five. The Fixer Upper couple’s four older children are Ella Rose, Emmie Kay, Drake, and Duke. Would the new baby also have an E or a D name? A double name?
Crew Gaines arrived in 2018, and the name soared in use, reaching #577 that year.
By 2022, the baby name Crew stood at #254.
The spelling Krew comes in at #625, and Crue debuted in 2022 at #868.
Other options sit outside of the current US Top 1000:
- Krue was given to 174 boys.
- The spelling Cru was used for 138 boys.
- An additional 82 were named Kru.
- Surname-style Crewe made the list with 16 births.
- And the Mardi Gras-tinged Krewe appeared on seven boys’ birth certificates in 2022.
Combined, these spellings increase the popularity of the name Crew. It’s worth noting that Crews could be a variant of the name – or another spelling for Cruz and Cruise, which are used in even greater numbers. And some of these spellings are used as baby girl names, too, though not often.
PREPPY HELLRAISER
Even without the celebrity design duo, the baby name Crew still might’ve caught on.
It’s a single syllable name, brief and brisk, just like Jack or Cole.
We love Drew, a name that peaked in the late 80s and 90s, just before Crew got its start.
But Crew’s new popularity is also about the dual nature of the name.
Like Wilder and Brooks, Crew is a preppy hellraiser. It’s a name you’d expect to hear in privileged circles. It fits a member of the freshman class at Yale or an associate at a white-shoe law firm.
But it sounds just as right jumping off a dock into a Texas lake. Or hiking in the Pacific Northwest.
A tiny pop culture boost has made this one of the most stylish baby boy names of the 2020s, a choice with widespread appeal.
The baby name Crew is a little bit of everything. A trustworthy, traditional-adjacent name. But also a modern, bold choice.
What do you think of the baby name Crew?
First published on June 17, 2011, this post was revised substantially and re-posted on June 27, 2018; February 23, 2022; and September 14, 2023.
Crew really doesn’t feel, as Lola put it, “namey enough for me”. But Brayden doesn’t sound like a name to me either 😉
I could see Crew on a little kid and I do feel his preppy vibe, but it’s definitely not my style.
@Rockingfetal: I could totally see Crew and Tucker as brothers! I could also see twins, Crew and Cole.
I really like it! Definitely has a preppy, athletic vibe–maybe to honor a dad or granddad who rowed crew. To me it is similar in feel to Lake, Gray, Cash (which I don’t like), River, Cage, Grant, Jack, etc.
I know a sixteen-year-old named Crew and I think the name fits him perfectly. He’s 100% athlete, super masculine, and very Southern (loves to hunt, fish, etc). I’ve always thought his name is cool but it isn’t something I would ever use. Crew was given his name because it’s his grandmother’s maiden name.
OK, I have never understood Crew and wondered what I was missing. It seems pretty well-liked and received on Nameberry, so I sort of expected that there was some history to the name that I didn’t know of. Now, it seems my initial reaction was right. I agree with Julie. Crew of what?
Upon reading today’s name, I imagined what my father would say “Crew?… A crew of what?” And then as I stepped away from the computer for a moment I realized I was singing:
If not for the courage of the fearless crew
The Minnow would be lost.
The Minnow would be lost.
I’m pretty traditional when it comes to names, so to my mind Crew feels insubstantial. I’d prefer it as a middle name, but then it would probably just seem to be a stylish “filler” name like Bleu or Danger.
Crewe on the other hand, brings to mind the children’s book heroine, Sarah Crewe from “A Little Princess.” Take that as you wish.
I see this as a nn for the ultra-preppy set. Which is funny, because we have a family name that’s similar in sound to Cruz that I’ve thought about using.
I think Crew and Tucker would make great brothers! 😉
Don’t know how that last part doubled! Ack!
Well, I really like the -oo sound in general but while I adore Rufus, Crew doesn’t do much for me. I like short names too: Rex, Leo, Cleo, but again, Crew doesn’t fit there either. Not “namey” enough for me. And yes, my first thought upon seeing today’s NotD: Pirate? My nephew’s in the middle of a huge ‘all thing pirate’ phase right now, hence the thought. Next thought? J. Crew and then the sport.
I have seen way worse ‘names’ as actual ‘names however, and Crew doesn’t fit in with those so all in all, Crew’s a solidly interesting choice witth some serious backbone. One could do worse! (I’d put Crew in the I have seen way worse ‘names’ as actual ‘names however, and Crew doesn’t fit in with those so all in all, Crew’s a solidly interesting choice witth some serious backbone. One could do worse! (I’d put Crew in the middle myself). 😀
I can only think of the slang term “crew”, as in homies, gang, clique, and the word “crew” as in the slaves who were forced to row a ship in times past. And the military haircut.
I may be missing something cultural, as here Crew sells refrigeration equipment, and to me the word “crew” is usually preceded by the words “road construction”.
That’s a nice point, Waltzing. J. Crew isn’t global, so it would be even more unusual outside of the US. (Is there J. Crew in Canada? My mind is going blank … I can’t picture seeing one in Toronto or Montreal, and surely that is where they’d be, right?)
The news bar thingy says they are opening in Canada this year, not sure when or if it’s already happened.
Crew definitely doesn’t have an upper-class sound here, as crewing is just called rowing, although I suppose the crew of a yacht might still make it sound a bit more elite. But generally it just means a team of workers, usually low-paid and overstretched.
I have definitely never seen a Crew here in a BA or news article or on popularity charts. He may exist, but if so, he is very rare! Crew may come in as a variation of Cruz, I can imagine seeing a Cru or Crue before I see a Crew.