Evelyn (name)

Evelyn
Pronunciation	ewellyn
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 Chew, Malaysian-Canadian stage actress
• 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)

Ships

• SS Eveleen, a British coaster in service under this name 1920–43 and 1946–57.

See also

• Avelina, female first name

References

1. 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.
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.
3. 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.