Evelyn (name)

Evelyn
Pronunciation/ˈɛvəlɪn, ˈiːvlɪn/ EV-ə-lin, EEV-lin
GenderUnisex
Origin
Word/namefrom Norman French; Aveline; from Hebrew Eve; from Old Irish 'óiph'
Meaninghazelnut; life; beauty; bird; water
Region of originEnglish language speaking areas, Germany, Estonia,
Other names
Related namesEvelina; Avelina; Aveline; Eve

Evelyn is a given name, very common in the English language, where it can be used as a first name or a surname.[1]

The name originally was used as a surname, which derived from Aveline, which means "hazelnut" in modern french, but the older origin is a feminine Norman French diminutive of the name Ava.[2] Ava itself is a hypocoristic Germanic name, of uncertain origin.,[3].

Evelyn is also sometimes used as modern variation of the name Eve, which means "life". Other variation is an Anglicisation of the Irish Aibhilín or Éibhleann.[4] Aibhilín (variant Eibhlín) is itself derived from the Norman French Aveline. Éibhleann (variant Éibhliu[1]), on the other hand, is said to be derived from the Old Irish óiph ("beauty"[5]).

Variant forms of the feminine first name Evelyn include: Evaline, Evalyn, Eveleen, Evelien, Eveliene, Evelin, Evelina, Eveline, Evelyne, Évelyne, Ewaline and Ewelina. Some of these forms may (also) have arisen as diminutive forms of Eve.[4][6]

People with this first name

Women

  • Evelyn Anderson (dancer) (1907–1994), American dancer
  • Evelyn M. Anderson (1899–1985), American physiologist and biochemist
  • Evelyn Ankers (1918–1985), American actress
  • Evelyn Ashford (born 1957), America female sprinter, gold medalist of the women's 100 meters running during the 1984 Summer Olympics
  • Evelyn Aswad (fl. 1990s–2020s), American legal scholar and professor at the University of Oklahoma College of Law
  • Evelyn Margaret Ay (1933–2008), American beauty pageant winner (Miss America, 1954)
  • Evelyn Vida Baxter (1879–1959), Scottish ornithologist
  • Lady Evelyn Beauchamp, née Herbert (1901–1980), daughter of 5th Earl of Carnarvon and one of the first in people in modern times to enter Tutankhamun's tomb
  • Evelyn Berezin (1925–2018), American computer designer best known for designing the first computer-driven word processor
  • Evelyn Bonaci (1916–2008), Maltese politician
  • Evelyn Booth (1897–1988), Irish botanist
  • Evelyn Brent (1901–1975), American film and stage actress
  • Evelyn Campbell (actress) (1868 – ?), British-born American actress
  • Evelyn Carow (born 1931), German movie editor
  • Evelyn Carrera (born 1971), Dominican Republic volleyball player
  • Evelyn Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire (1870–1960)
  • Evelyn Cheesman (1882–1969), British entomologist and traveller
  • Evelyn Colon, (1961–1976) formerly unidentified American homicide victim
  • Evelyn Colyer (1902–1930), British tennis player
  • Evelyn Y. Davis (1929–2018), American activist shareholder
  • Evelyn Magruder DeJarnette (1842–1914), American author
  • Evelyn De Morgan (1855–1919), English Pre-Raphaelite painter
  • Evelyn de Soysa (1893–1973), third woman member of Senate of Ceylon (present-day Sri Lanka)
  • Evelyn Dick (1920-unknown), Canadian convicted murderer
  • Evelyn Dove (1902–1987), British singer and actress
  • Evelyn Everett-Green (1856–1932), English novelist
  • Evelyn Finley (1916–1989), American actress and stuntwoman
  • Evelyn Furtsch (1914–2015), American sprinter
  • Evelyn Gandy (1920–2007), American Lieutenant Governor of the state of Mississippi
  • Evelyn García (born 1982), Salvadorian cyclist
  • Evelyn Gardner (1903–1994), English aristocrat and socialite, and first wife of Evelyn Waugh
  • Evelyn Gigantes (born 1945), Canadian politician and Cabinet Minister
  • Evelyn Glennie (born 1965), Scottish virtuoso percussionist who has been deaf since age 12
  • Evelyn Gleeson (1855–1944), English embroidery, carpet, and tapestry designer
  • Evelyn Beatrice Hall (1868–1956), English writer and biographer of Voltaire
  • Evelyn Hamann (1942–2007), German actress
  • Evelyn Hart (born 1956), Canadian ballerina and principal dancer of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet
  • Evelyn Hartley (born 1937), American woman who has been missing since 1953
  • Evelyn Hatch (1871–1951), English muse of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson
  • Evelyn Holt (1908–2001), German film actress
  • Evelyn Hooker (1907–1996), American psychologist most noted for her studies on homosexuality
  • Evelyn Bryan Johnson (1909–2012), American pilot with a world record number of flying hours
  • Evelyn Keyes (1916–2008), American actress most noted for her role as Suellen O'Hara in the 1939 film Gone with the Wind
  • Evelyn "Champagne" King (born 1960), American R&B and disco singer
  • Evelyn Künneke (1921–2001), German singer and actress
  • Evelyn Lau (born 1971), Chinese-Canadian poet and novelist
  • Evelyn Laye (1900–1996), British theatre actress
  • Evelyn Lear (1926–2012), American soprano and opera singer
  • Evelyn Lincoln (1909–1995), personal secretary to John F. Kennedy from his election to the Senate in 1953 until his 1963 assassination
  • Evelyn Beatrice Longman (1874–1954), American sculptor elected as a full member of the National Academy of Design
  • Evelyn Mase (1922–2004), South African nurse and first wife of Nelson Mandela
  • Evelyn Matthei (born 1953), Chilean politician, former Minister of Labor and candidate for President of Chile in 2013
  • Evelyn McHale (1923–1947), American bookkeeper, subject of an iconic photograph showing her body after she jumped from an observation platform of the Empire State Building
  • Evelyn Mora (born 1992), Finnish entrepreneur
  • Evelyn Nesbit (1884–1967), American model noted for her entanglement in the murder of her ex-lover by her first husband
  • Evelyn Paul (1883–1963), British illustrator
  • Evelyn Preer (1896–1932), African-American actress and blues singer
  • Evelyn Reed (1905–1979), leading member of the American Socialist Workers Party and women's rights agitator
  • Evelyn Regner (born 1966), Austrian Member of the European Parliament
  • Evelyn Sandberg-Vavalà (1888–1961) also known as Evelyn May Graham Sandberg or Evelyn Kendrew, art historian
  • Evelyn Sears (1875–1966), American tennis player
  • Evelyn Selbie (1871–1950), American actress
  • Evelyn Sharma (born 1986), German-Indian actress and model
  • Evelyn Šilina (born 2001), Estonian footballer
  • Evelyn Stevens (cyclist) (born 1983), American road cyclist
  • Evelyn Greenleaf Sutherland (1855–1908), American journalist, author and playwright
  • Evelyn Thomas (born 1945), American disco singer
  • Evelyn Tubb, English soprano and long-time member of The Consort of Musicke
  • Evelyn Underhill (1875–1941), English writer on mysticism and metaphysical poet
  • Evelyn van Leeuwen (born 1972), Dutch wheelchair basketball player
  • Evelyn Varden (1893–1958), American character actress
  • Evelyn Verrasztó (born 1989), Hungarian swimmer
  • Evelyn Svec Ward (1921–1989), American fiber artist
  • Evelyn Wells (1899–1984), American biographer, especially of the ancient Egyptian royals
  • Evelyn Whitaker (1844–1929), English children's writer
  • Evelyn Prescott Wiggin (1900–1964), American mathematician and university professor
  • Evelyn Williams (artist) (1929–2012), British artist
  • Evelyn Williamson (born 1971), New Zealand triathlon athlete
  • Evelyn M. Witkin (1921–2023), American geneticist
  • Evelyn Wood (teacher) (1909–1995), American advocate of speed reading
  • Evelyn Young (1915–1983), American film actress
  • Evelyn Zangger (born 1980), Swiss singer-songwriter

Female variants

Eveleen

Evelien

Evelin

Eveline

Evelyne

Men

People with this surname

Fictional characters

References

  1. ^ a b Hanks, Patrick; Hardcastle, Kate; Hodges, Flavia (2006), "Evelyn", A Dictionary of First Names, Oxford Paperback Reference (2nd ed.), Oxford University Press, p. 347, ISBN 978-0-19-861060-1.
  2. ^ Hanks, Patrick; Hardcastle, Kate; Hodges, Flavia (2006), A Dictionary of First Names, Oxford Paperback Reference (2nd ed.), Oxford University Press, p. 341, ISBN 978-0-19-861060-1. its also an elaborated form of >Ava."
  3. ^ Förstemann, Altdeutsches Namenbuch (1847), 190 adduces OHG awa "flowing water" and Gothic awō "grandmother"
  4. ^ a b Hanks, Patrick; Hardcastle, Kate; Hodges, Flavia (2006), A Dictionary of First Names, Oxford Paperback Reference (2nd ed.), Oxford University Press, pp. 95–96, ISBN 978-0-19-861060-1.
  5. ^ eDIL s.v. oíb: "semblance, appearance, aspect, nature or condition (of things or abstracts)"; "beauty or attractiveness (of appearance, nature or disposition)".
  6. ^ Eveleen at behindthename.com
Name list
This page or section lists people that share the same given name or the same family name.
If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change that link to point directly to the intended article.