Evelyn (name)
| Pronunciation | ev(ə)lin, eevlin |
|---|---|
| Gender | unisex |
| Language(s) | English |
| Origin | |
| Language(s) | English |
| Word/name | Evelyn (surname) |
| Derivation | from Norman French feminine personal name Aveline |
Evelyn is a name in the English language, where it can be used as a first name or a surname.
As a first name, it can refer to persons of either sex, although it is more commonly borne by females. The name originally was used a surname, which derived from Aveline, a feminine Norman French diminutive of the name Ava.
Evelyn is also sometimes used as an Anglicisation of the Irish or Aibhilín and Éibhleann.[1] Aibhilín is a variant form of Eibhlín, which is also derived from the Norman French Aveline.[2] Éibhleann, on the other hand, is said to be derived from the Old Irish óiph, which means "radiance", "beauty"; a variant of this name is Éibhliu, another Anglicised form of the name is Evilin. Another school of thought is that the name "Evelyn" means "hazelnut".[3]
Variant forms of the feminine first name Evelyn include: Evelyne, Eveline, Evaline, Evelin, Evylen, Eveleen.[1]
Persons with the surname
- John Evelyn (1620–1706), English writer, gardener and diarist.
Persons with the first name
- Women
- Evelyn Ashford (born 1957), US female sprinter, gold medalist of the women's 100 meters running during the 1984 Summer Olympics
- Evelyn Margaret Ay, winner of the 1954 Miss America pageant
- Evelyn Beatrice Hall, writer and biographer of Voltaire
- Evelyn Braxton, mother of seven-time Grammy Award-winning R&B singer-songwriter Toni Braxton
- Evelyn Brent (1901–1975), American film and stage actress
- Évelyne Brochu (born 1982), Canadian film, television and theatre actress
- Evelyn Carrera (born 1971), Dominican Republic volleyball player
- Evelyn De Morgan (1855–1919), English Pre-Raphaelite painter
- Ewelina Flinta (born 1979), Polish singer
- Evelyn García, Salvadorian cyclist
- Evelyne Gebhardt (born 1954), German politician and Member of the European Parliament
- Evelyn Gigantes (born 1945), Canadian politician and Cabinet Minister
- Evelyn Gandy, first woman to be elected as the Lieutenant Governor of the state of Mississippi, USA (1975)
- Evelyn Hatch (born 1869), muse of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson
- Evelyn Hart (born 1956), Canadian ballerina and principal dancer of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet
- Evelyn Hooker (1907–1996), American psychologist most noted for her studies on homosexuality
- Evelyn Keyes (1916–2008), American actress most noted for her role as Suellen O'Hara in the 1939 film Gone with the Wind
- Evelyn Kozak (1899–2013), American supercentenarian who was the world's oldest living Jewish person.
- Evelyn King (singer) (born 1960), popular American R&B and disco singer of the late '70s and early '80s
- 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 and first woman to be elected 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 Nesbit (1884–1967), American model noted for her entanglement in the murder of her ex-lover by her first husband
- Evelina Papantoniou (born 1979), Greek model
- Evelina Papoulia (born 1971), Greek actress
- 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 Sharma, German-Indian actress and model
- Evelyn Thomas (born 1945), American disco singer
- Evelyn Tubb, soprano and long-time member of The Consort of Musicke
- Evelyn Underhill (1875–1941), English writer on mysticism and metaphysical poet
- Evelyn Valerie Zangger (born 1980), Swiss singer-songwriter
- Evelyn Verrasztó (born 1989), Hungarian swimmer
- Evelyn Wells, biographer, especially of the ancient Egyptian royals
- Evelyn Williamson (born 1971), New Zealand triathlon athlete
- Evelyn Wood (teacher) (1909–1995), American advocate of speed reading
- Men
- Evelyn Baring, 1st Earl of Cromer (1841–1917), Consul-General of Egypt from 1883 to 1907
- Evelyn Baring, 1st Baron Howick of Glendale (1903–1973), Governor of Kenya from 1952 to 1959
- Evelyn King (politician) (1907–1994), British member of Parliament
- Evelyn Owen (1915–1949), Australian inventor of the Owen submachine gun
- Evelyn Pierrepont, 1st Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull (c. 1655 – 1726)
- Evelyn Seymour, 17th Duke of Somerset (1882–1954)
- Evelyn Waugh (1903–1966), English satirical novelist, whose first wife was also named Evelyn
- Evelyn Webb-Carter, former advisor to Elizabeth, the Queen Mother and current Controller of the Army Benevolent Fund
- Evelyn Wood (British Army officer) (1838–1919), British Field marshal, Victoria Cross recipient
- Evelyn Robert de Rothschild, British financier and member of the prominent Rothschild family.
Fictional characters
- Evelyn, portrayed by Sissy Spacek in The Ring Two
- Evelyn Carnahan, played by Rachel Weisz in The Mummy
- Evelyn Doyle, portrayed by Sophie Vavasseur in the 2002 film Evelyn.
- Evelyn (variously Eveline) Fairfax, in Henry Williamson's Flax of Dream sequence (predominately The Dream of Fair Women)
- Evelyn Kane, in Agatha Christie's 1952 novel Mrs McGinty's Dead and the 1964 film adaptation Murder Most Foul
- Evelyn Kwong, from Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide
- "Angel" (Evelyn) Martin, Jim Rockford's former prison cellmate on The Rockford Files
- Evelyn Salt, portrayed by Angelina Jolie in Salt
- Evelyn Smythe, played by Maggie Stables in a series of audio plays produced by Big Finish Productions based on Doctor Who
- Evelyn Tremble, played by Peter Sellers in the James Bond satire Casino Royale
- Evelynn, the Widowmaker, a playable champion in League of Legends
- Ted Evelyn Mosby, in How I Met Your Mother
- Bill (Evelyn William) McNeal, portrayed by Phil Hartman in NewsRadio
- Evelyn Gardener, in the movie A League of Their Own
- Evelyn, a nurse in Pearl Harbor
- Evelyn, the protagonist in The Passion of New Eve by Angela Carter
- Evelyn Evelyn, conjoined twins Eva and Lyn formed their names together to Evelyn to clear confusion
- Evelyn Harper, played by Holland Taylor in Two and a Half Men
- Evelyn Greenslade, played by Judi Dench in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
- Evelyn Bamford, female protagonist in Train Flight stories by Elizabeth Newton
- Evelyn Napier, a character from Downton Abbey, portrayed by Brendan Patricks.
- Evelyn Cream, a renegade British Secret Service agent from the comic book series Marvelman (a.k.a. Miracleman)
- Evelyn Cross Mulwray, played by Faye Dunaway in Chinatown (1974 film)'
- Evelyn Johnson-Eaton, portrayed by Naomi Watts in Allegiant, from the Divergent Series.
Ships
- SS Eveleen, a British coaster in service under this name 1920–43 and 1946–57.
See also
- Avelina, female first name
References
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Hanks, Patrick; Hardcastle, Kate; Hodges, Flavia (2006), A Dictionary of First Names, Oxford Paperback Reference (2nd ed.), Oxford University Press, p. 347, ISBN 978-0-19-861060-1.
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