FastNamesEvan
Welsh, Celtic and Hebrew name meaning "Welsh form of Ieuan (cognate with John), derived from Hebrew Yochanan, meaning 'Yahweh is gracious' or 'God has favored'.". Ranked 153rd for boys in 2025.
Meaning and origin of Evan
Welsh form of Ieuan (cognate with John), derived from Hebrew Yochanan, meaning 'Yahweh is gracious' or 'God has favored'.
Linguistically, Evan is classified under Welsh, Celtic and Hebrew naming traditions. It is typically pronounced "EV-uhn".
Popularity and ranking
In official US Social Security birth records from 1880 through 2025, Evan has been given to a total of 287,701 boys. It has also been given to 4,725 girls.
Peak year: Evan reached its highest relative share among boys in 2009, when 10,280 babies received the name (5,183 per million births).
All-time best rank: 35th place, first achieved in 2009.
Recent standing (2025): Ranked 153rd with 2,412 births. Ten years earlier in 2015, it ranked 67th (down 86 spots).
Busiest decade: More boys were named Evan in the 2000s than in any other decade (92,144 births).
| Decade | Recorded births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 192 |
| 1890s | 187 |
| 1900s | 218 |
| 1910s | 1,130 |
| 1920s | 1,511 |
| 1930s | 1,175 |
| 1940s | 1,545 |
| 1950s | 2,989 |
| 1960s | 5,084 |
| 1970s | 7,870 |
| 1980s | 32,484 |
| 1990s | 59,396 |
| 2000s | 92,144 |
| 2010s | 64,762 |
| 2020s | 17,014 |
Source: Social Security Administration, national baby name data, data through 2025. Names given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year aren't published, so totals are a little lower than actual births.
Where Evan is most common in the US
Accounting for when Evan was in fashion nationally, it has been most heavily concentrated in the following states (measured against the expected rate from each state's births):
- Vermont: 2.0 times the national rate (774 births since 1910).
- New Hampshire: 1.7 times the national rate (1,591 births since 1910).
- Rhode Island: 1.7 times the national rate (1,386 births since 1910).
- Maine: 1.6 times the national rate (1,504 births since 1910).
- Massachusetts: 1.5 times the national rate (8,395 births since 1910).
Source: Social Security Administration, baby names by state, data through 2025. Names given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a state in a year aren't published, so totals are a little lower than actual births.
How many people have the name Evan?
About 274,000 living American boys and men share the name Evan. Additionally, an estimated 4,500 living American girls and women share the name.
The median age of an American named Evan is 22 years old.
Estimated from Social Security Administration records (1880–2025) and official SSA cohort mortality tables.
History of the name Evan
Evan is the traditional Anglicized spelling of the Welsh masculine given name Ifan or Ieuan, the indigenous Celtic development of the Latin ecclesiastical name Iohannes (from the Hebrew theophoric compound Yochanan, signifying 'Yahweh has been gracious'). As Christianity spread throughout early post-Roman Wales, the biblical name evolved through Old Welsh orthography, eventually crystallizing into Ieuan, Ifan, and the phonetic English transcription Evan.
Evan became one of the most prominent Welsh baptismal and patronymic names of the late medieval and early modern periods, generating prominent hereditary patronymic surnames including Evans and Bevan (from the Welsh patronymic contraction ap Evan, 'son of Evan'). Welsh emigrants carried the name across coal mining, agricultural, and industrial centers of Pennsylvania, Ohio, and New York throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, firmly establishing its presence in American civic life.
In United States baby name data, Evan transitioned from a specialized regional name into a national staple during the latter half of the twentieth century. Entering the national top one hundred in 1983, Evan climbed into the top thirty-five between 2000 and 2009, maintaining strong demographic stability with over 10,000 newborn boys per year, prized for its gentle two-syllable cadence, smooth vowel opening, and venerable biblical pedigree.
Notable people named Evan
- Evan Rachel Wood (1987–), American actress and musician known for Westworld
- Evan Peters (1987–), American Emmy-winning actor known for American Horror Story and Dahmer
- Evan Mobley (2001–), American NBA player for the Cleveland Cavaliers
- Evan Longoria (1985–), American Major League Baseball third baseman and three-time All-Star
Variants and related names
Spelling variants
Diminutives and nicknames
Related names
Sources and references
- E. G. Withycombe. The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names (1977), p. 110.
- Patrick Hanks, Kate Hardcastle, Flavia Hodges. A Dictionary of First Names (2006), p. 93.