Girl, earlier also a man's name in Britain · English (from Hebrew or Germanic) · International
Evelyn
EvelynSay it EV-uh-lin
- Meaning today
- Wished-for child, life
- Original meaning
- "double diminutive of Eve ('life'), or from Germanic Avelina" Online Etymology Dictionary, s.v. Evelyn
- Say it
- EV-uh-lin
- Other spellings
- Evelynn, Eveline, Evelin
Evelyn
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Evelyn meaning
Evelyn is an international girl's name of English origin (from Hebrew or Germanic).
Meaning today
Wished-for child, life
Original English (from Hebrew or Germanic) meaning
"double diminutive of Eve ('life'), or from Germanic Avelina"
Source: Online Etymology Dictionary, s.v. Evelyn · entry Evelyn · See the entry · checked 25 Oct 2026
Evelyn has a tangled history. Etymonline explains it as a double diminutive of Eve, "little Eve", or in some cases as a form of the Old High German name Avelina. As an English surname it is traced either to a medieval Evelin or to the Norman girl's name Aveline, and the two were often confused. Through Eve it is linked to Hebrew Chavvah, which Strong's concordance glosses as "life-giver". Name lists often give "wished-for child", which we could not trace to any source. In Britain Evelyn was long also a man's name, as with the novelist Evelyn Waugh and the seventeenth-century diarist John Evelyn.
References: Online Etymology Dictionary, Evelyn · Strong's H2332, Chavvah (biblehub.com) · Wikipedia, Evelyn (name)
Famous namesakes
- Evelyn Waugh, English novelist
- John Evelyn, English diarist
Popularity abroad
- #8 United States, girls 2025 (same as 2024)
US Social Security Administration - #12 England and Wales, girls 2025
Office for National Statistics
Official birth registrations. India publishes no national name statistics.
Spellings
Evelyn · Evelynn · Eveline · Evelin