FastNamesEvelyn
English, French and Germanic name meaning "Derived from the Norman French surname and feminine name Aveline, from Old Germanic elements meaning 'desired' or 'hazelnut', or a compound of Eve and Lynn ('living lake').". Ranked 8th for girls in 2025.
Meaning and origin of Evelyn
Derived from the Norman French surname and feminine name Aveline, from Old Germanic elements meaning 'desired' or 'hazelnut', or a compound of Eve and Lynn ('living lake').
Linguistically, Evelyn is classified under English, French and Germanic naming traditions. It is typically pronounced "EV-uh-lin".
Popularity and ranking
In official US Social Security birth records from 1880 through 2025, Evelyn has been given to a total of 639,756 girls. It has also been given to 1,906 boys.
Peak year: Evelyn reached its highest relative share among girls in 1919, when 13,321 babies received the name (11,787 per million births).
All-time best rank: 8th place, first achieved in 2024.
Recent standing (2025): Ranked 8th with 9,123 births. Ten years earlier in 2015, it ranked 15th (up 7 spots).
Busiest decade: More girls were named Evelyn in the 1920s than in any other decade (124,166 births).
| Decade | Recorded births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 1,817 |
| 1890s | 5,648 |
| 1900s | 18,603 |
| 1910s | 91,492 |
| 1920s | 124,166 |
| 1930s | 69,364 |
| 1940s | 48,157 |
| 1950s | 38,411 |
| 1960s | 22,582 |
| 1970s | 9,974 |
| 1980s | 10,978 |
| 1990s | 15,128 |
| 2000s | 40,730 |
| 2010s | 86,972 |
| 2020s | 55,734 |
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 Evelyn is most common in the US
Accounting for when Evelyn was in fashion nationally, it has been most heavily concentrated in the following states (measured against the expected rate from each state's births):
- Alaska: 1.7 times the national rate (859 births since 1910).
- District of Columbia: 1.3 times the national rate (2,943 births since 1910).
- Wyoming: 1.3 times the national rate (978 births since 1910).
- South Dakota: 1.3 times the national rate (3,150 births since 1910).
- North Dakota: 1.3 times the national rate (3,342 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 Evelyn?
About 316,000 living American girls and women share the name Evelyn. Additionally, an estimated 780 living American boys and men share the name.
The median age of an American named Evelyn is 20 years old.
Estimated from Social Security Administration records (1880–2025) and official SSA cohort mortality tables.
History of the name Evelyn
Evelyn originated as an English aristocratic surname derived from the Norman French personal name Aveline, introduced to the British Isles following the Norman Conquest of 1066. Aveline was a diminutive of the ancient Germanic name Avila or Ava, rooted in *awil- ('desired', 'wished for', or 'cherished') or alternately linked to the Celtic-Latin word avellana ('hazelnut'). In early modern England, Evelyn developed as a prominent gentry surname, notably borne by seventeenth-century diarist and scholar John Evelyn (1620–1706).
Throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Evelyn was frequently utilized as a masculine given name among English aristocratic families to perpetuate maternal surnames, as exemplified by prominent author Evelyn Waugh (1903–1966). Concurrently, nineteenth-century romantic authors and poets reinterpreted the name as a feminine creation, phonetically associating it with the biblical name Eve ('living one') and the Welsh element lynn ('lake' or 'waterfall'), establishing Evelyn as a celebrated feminine baptismal name.
In American baby name data, Evelyn ranked in the national top twenty during the first two decades of the twentieth century before moderating in mid-century decades. Beginning around 2000, Evelyn experienced a spectacular vintage renaissance, re-entering the national top twenty in 2013 and surging into the national top ten by 2017 with over 9,000 newborn girls per year. Parents admire Evelyn for its delicate vintage grace, melodic three-syllable flow, and distinguished historical lineage.
Notable people named Evelyn
- Evelyn Waugh (1903–1966), English novelist known for Brideshead Revisited
- Evelyn Glennie (1965–), Scottish virtuoso percussionist and two-time Grammy Award winner
- Evelyn Ashford (1957–), American Olympic four-time gold medalist sprinter
- Evelyn Keyes (1916–2008), American film actress known for Gone with the Wind
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. 112.
- Patrick Hanks, Kate Hardcastle, Flavia Hodges. A Dictionary of First Names (2006), p. 94.