Evelyn

English

Etymology

Medieval English form of the Old French female name Aveline, diminutive of the Germanic root avi, of uncertain meaning, possibly "desired, wished for" , or aval "strength". By folk etymology the female name is seen as a diminutive of Eve.

Proper noun

Evelyn

1. A female given name.
   • 1855 Robert Browning: Evelyn Hope:

     Beautiful Evelyn Hope is dead! / Sit and watch by her side an hour.

   • 1980 Salman Rushdie: Midnight's Children. Alfred A.Knopf 1981. ISBN 0-394-51470-X page 179:

     "I don't wear flowers," Evelyn Lilith said, and tossed the unwanted chain into the air, spearing it before it fell with a pellet from her unerring Daisy air-pistol. Destroying flowers with a Daisy, she served notice that she was not to be manacled, not even by a necklace: she was our capricious, whirligig Lill-of-the-Hill. And also Eve. The Adam's-apple of my eye.

2. A matronymic surname​.
3. A male given name, transferred from the surname.

Related terms

• Ava
• Eileen
• Eveleen
• Eveline

Translations

female given name

• Czech: Evelína (cs) f
• Estonian: Evelin (et)
• Finnish: Eveliina (fi)
• French: Évelyne (fr)

• Latvian: Evelīna (lv) f
• Polish: Ewelina (pl)
• Swedish: Evelina (sv)

Anagrams

• evenly
• levyne

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German

Proper noun

Evelyn

1. A female given name borrowed from English.

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Norwegian

Proper noun

Evelyn

1. A female given name borrowed from English.