You think I’m a woman. I’m not!
Most people see my name and think I’m a woman. I’m not!
I have some news for you: I am not a woman. See?
Since my name is Andrea everybody assumes I’m a woman. In fact, Andrea in Italy is purely a male name. And rightly so! It comes from the Greek word “andros” which means “man”.
Read the Wikipedia article on Andrea if you don’t believe me. Why this is a female name outside Italy is therefore one of history’s more puzzling mysteries.
In order to eliminate all doubts I painted some facial hair on my portrait in the header, where it says “Hire me” (nice plug!).
Of course who am I fooling? Even without a beard it’s clear I’m not a woman: I have white hair, a flat chest and I’m ugly. So the fact that I am mistaken for a woman means nobody actually bothers to look at my website. Such a shame!
By the way, isn’t it interesting that I post this under “News”?
Breaking news! lol
ooo your shirt in the picture and your illustration matches lol You made the illustration keeping this picture in mind or what?
That was my favorite T-shirt but I lost it last year. That’s why I immortalized it in my caricature.
Now I can’t shave anymore!
By the way that was one fast comment man! Were you waiting for me to post this?
haha.. yea was waiting for you to prove that you are a man hehe..
Actually, as soon as I opened my twitter page saw your tweet. You must have posted it at that very moment :P
The first time I visited your site, I thought “that’s one hairy lady!” j/k.. ;)
I think that it’s funny that it bothers you so much that you need to publish an explanation to the world about that IT IS A MALE NAME! IT IS!! I SWEAR!!
I’m trying to be professional with my clients, which includes making it clear who they’re dealing with. Wouldn’t you feel weird if this happened to you?
Luckily you are not a woman. :) You would be a very ugly woman.
Hahahaha, well I guess that’s settled. Great post! :)
Hi. I’m from Venezuela. I really like your work, it’s awesome. Actually the first time I checked your website I thought you were a woman, not ugly as many said inlcuding yourself, but just one of those who doesn’t care that much making her up and changing her outside. What’s really important (whether you are a woman or a guy) is the inside, the quality of your work and all the love you put into it. Really funny though the same t-shirt hahaha.. LOL. Another thing, my name is a male name (Flavio), but it also comes from Italy and there are lots of guys named Flavia, considered for us as a female name.
I guess Andrea Bocelli helps a little bit to change the perception of Andrea as a female name ;)
Yeah but he has a beard. That’s why I added mine to my caricature.
Huh. Well I didn’t think you were a female. I was taught that the feminine Andrea is pronounced – ahndraya, and the male form as – ahndray
Perhaps they are no longer teaching this in schools?
Never fear, the greater probability is that many knew you were male. :-)
LOL. Looking at your mascot, everyone should know that you’re man! :D
Nice web btw. I enjoy your hamster avatar illustration tutorial here.
Thanks. I love the hamster too. It’s so inflated!
Czesc Andrea,
You’re a good looking man. Lovely smile. In today’s multicutlural world anyone who thinks its only a woman’s name is narrow, but thanks for the explanation anyway, man!
How did you learn such excellent, fluent English?
How’s your Polish? What made you move to Krakow?
I was there in 1980 as a student. Thankfully it has recovered from communist depression and is now vibrant.
Thanks for your article on Polish posters – well done!
Thanks, you make me blush!
I learned English by watching Beavis & Butt-Head, listening to Frank Zappa and reading a lot of books.
I also speak fluent Polish. I came to Krakow to get away from Italy. Life’s good here although a bit too commercial.
I’m glad you liked my article.
Haha. The only reason I clicked the link was I thought you were a woman. A female icon designer? Hot! Must check her out! Hahaha. So… no reason to emphasize you’re a man, really :-D
BTW, the Brain Slug is charming. It’s a bit sad… but charming.
Hi, I stumbled upon your site and wanted to say hello! I have the same problem with my name when I travel outside the US, just reversed (I’m the female Andrea). People always expect to meet a man…
Oddly enough, I lived in Russia for a while, and married there too. My husband’s name is Andrey, so now that usually clears things up a bit…
So that evens it out. Good!
Andrea Bocelli is truly a master. He has a super great voice that sounds heavenly….
andrea bocelli is really a gifted man and he has the best sounding voice ever ~
Most of my Italian language instructors were really strict about this matter and they would take the exam points from anyone to whom an Andrea was “lei”. So, this makes me laugh. When someone is obviously Italian, I’ll know they just cannot be a girl when called Andrea! :)
Take away exam points? That’s a bit strict, but then again people get upset about their names being mispronounced. I don’t mind too much except when they think I’m a woman: it’s really awkward when dealing with clients.