Evelyn

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Evelyne in FR France, BE Belgium, ES Spain and 4 more and אבלין in IL Israel.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 27 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Evelyn is also recorded as 7 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Spanish given name2.1M records spelled Evelyn26 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Brazil, Argentina, United States, Peru

  Languages: Spanish, Portuguese, French

  Also written Ëvëlyn, Evëlyn, Évelyn, E'Velyn, Ëvelyn

• a separate given name123K records spelled Evelyn3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Italy

  Also written Évelyn, Ėvelyn

• Polish given name25K records spelled Evelyn71 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Poland, Czechia, Ukraine

  Languages: Polish, Russian, Czech

  Also written Evelin, Евелін, Эвелин, Евелин, Ивлин

• Indonesian given name24K records spelled Evelyn7 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Indonesia, Philippines, United States, Malaysia

  Languages: Indonesian, Malay, Malagasy

  Also written 'Evelyn, Evelyn', Évelyn

• Hindi given name15K records spelled Evelyn5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, India, Philippines

  Languages: Hindi, Sinhala, Urdu

  Also written Évelyn

• Hungarian given name12K records spelled Evelyn5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Hungary, Finland, United States, Philippines

  Languages: Hungarian, Finnish, Estonian

  Also written Évélŷn, Évèlyn

• Lao given name8.8K records spelled Evelyn12 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Laos, Thailand, United States, Philippines

  Languages: Lao, Thai

  Also written Ëvëlÿn, Evêlyn, Êvêlyn, Évelyn, Ḕvḕḷẏn

72 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Evelyn is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In English, English; from an old surname, later also related to Eve.

  as a name·Baby names, 25,350 baby names nicknames for your family, friends pets, including the top 100 names, 2,000 most popular…

• In English, Germanic name, occasionally used in Ireland.

  as a name·Irish first names

• In English, the element avi, perhaps meaning ‘desired, wished for’. Vars.: Aveline, Aveling. Metr.: Du.: Eveleens. The diarist John Evelyn (1620-1706) claimed to come of a family of Norman origin who had settled in Shrops. However, his earliest recorded ancestor was William Avelyn or Evelyn (d. 1476), who lived at Harrow, Middlesex.

  as a name·A dictionary of surnames

• ,° Modern use of this as both a boy’s and a girl’s name derives from a transferred use of an English surname, from the Norman female name Aveline, an elaborated form of (Ava. It is also found as a variant Anglicization of Irish Eibhleann (see pEvlin). Variants: Evelyne, Eveline (9).

  as a name·A concise dictionary of first names

• In English, A female given name from the Germanic languages.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 146 years between 1880–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Evelyn Grace Inceb. 1886INBritish painter (1886–1941)
• Richard E. Byrdb. 1888USnot in their usual nameAmerican naval officer, explorer (1888-1957)
• Evelyn Waughb. 1903GBBritish writer and journalist (1903–1966)
• Estée Lauderb. 1906USnot in their usual nameAmerican businesswoman (1906–2004)
• Evelyn Keyesb. 1916USAmerican film actress (1916-2008)
• Margot Fonteynb. 1919GBnot in their usual nameBritish ballerina
• Richard Vernonb. 1925GBnot in their usual namefilm, television actor (1925-1997)
• Evelyn Ashfordb. 1957USAmerican sprinter
• Angela Bassettb. 1958USnot in their usual nameAmerican actress (born 1958)
• Carolina Klüftb. 1983SEnot in their usual nameSwedish heptathlete and long jumper

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 1,611 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Evelyn?

We estimate roughly 556 thousand people bear Evelyn (counting its spellings and scripts) across 11 countries in our records.

In which country does Evelyn have the most bearers?

We estimate about 293 thousand people bear Evelyn in the United States, more than in any other country in our records, where it is most often spelled evelyn.

How common is Evelyn compared with other names?

In the United States, Evelyn is the 199th most common given name of 3,122,706 given names recorded there.

Is Evelyn a male or female name?

Evelyn is a female name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Evelyn mean?

Recorded meaning: from the medieval female personal name Aveline, ultimately of Germanic origin, from Avo, perhaps meaning literally 'wished for'.