Evan Dando 30th June
Evan Dando 30th June (Photo credit: nastyelves)

He’s another form of the evergreen John, and a steady favorite in the US.

Thanks to Jennifer for suggesting Evan as our Baby Name of the Day.

Tracing the evolution of John from his Old Testament Yochanan through Greek into Latin and then English is a tricky business, and attempting to follow the thread into dozens of languages is even more difficult.  Iohannes became Juan and Ivan and Johan and Jan, and yes, also Evan.

But he wasn’t instantly Evan.  The older Welsh form of the name was Iefan or Ifan.  Listen to it pronounced by a native Welsh speaker, and it is easy to hear how the name eventually became Evan.

There are other possible origins.  Some link him to the Gaelic Eóghan or the Greek Eugenios, the origin of Eugene.

You can find notable Evans throughout the years, and he’s always been in the US Top 1000.  In 1880 he charted at #364.  In 1900, he ranked #472.  He hovered in relatively obscurity though the 1950s, when he started his slow and steady climb.  After three decades of gains, he became a Top 100 pick in 1983.  He’s stayed there ever since, peaking at #35 in 2009, but still ranking #40 as of last year.  He’s just as popular – or even more – elsewhere in the English-speaking world.

What explains his rise?  A host of late nineteenth and early twentieth century notables wore the name – a handful of politicians, a singer, a few prominent Welsh figures.  There was even an eighteenth century poet called Evan Evans, and a prominent nineteenth century church leader called Evan Evans – unrelated.  It is tempting to peg Evan’s rise in Wales to the poet, but that’s just a guess.

In the US Evan sounded an awful lot like names we were used to in the 1950s – a fresh update without being too different.  Steven/Stephen, Marvin, Melvin, and Calvin were solidly established.  Kevin was also on the rise, and the much more popular name likely paved the way.

Evan must have been seen as a heritage choice at one point, and there were a smattering of Evans in Wales in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth centuries.  Today parents seeking a nod to Welsh roots are more likely to use Rhys.

Speaking of modern use, Evan is one of the names that generates some anxiety about name theft, thanks to actress Evan Rachel Wood.  In 2011,  just under 100 girls were called Evan, and the name has never cracked the Top 1000.  While you certainly might meet a female Evan, the numbers make this one solidly masculine – more than 8,500 boys received the name last year.

Which leads to an important question – is Evan too popular to use?  Much of that depends on your perspective.  There have been notable Evans in nearly every field of pursuit in recent years: musicians, athletes, actors, politicians.  (My first thought is The Lemonheads’ frontman Evan Dando, but that might just be me …)

Factor in the surname Evans, and the list fills pages, stretching to place names and even Evans Gambit, an opening strategy in chess.

Overall, you expect to hear Evan called out on the playground, along with Mason, Logan, and Cole.  He’s joined the list of staple names for boys in the twenty-first century: reliable, quiet, and mainstream, a likeable name that neither surprises nor disappoints.

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About Abby Sandel

Whether you're naming a baby, or just all about names, you've come to the right place! Appellation Mountain is a haven for lovers of obscure gems and enduring classics alike.

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10 Comments

  1. This is my 12 year old son’s name and it has served him well.
    In Canada there is a well known tv broadcaster named Evan Solomon. Thanks for picking Evan as the name of the day.

  2. A good friend of mine is named Evan, and this post is timely given that he recently helped me push my car out of some mud. He comes from the countryside, so he’s also known by the name Farmer Joe.

    Oh, and to Elea above – I totally saw a butcher on the BBC News a few months back called William Williams! (although I’m certain his middle initial was given).

  3. Evan was HUGE in Wales in the 18th and 19th century. The 1851 census shows that Evan was the most popular “Welsh” name in Glamorgan in that year, and the 6th most frequent masculine name overall. Interestingly, it ranked 5th among the names of men over 51 (i.e. those born in the 18th century).
    It only fell out of the England and Wales top 100 in the 1920s, though it still coasted within the Top 200.

    Its rise in Wales in most likely thanks to the huge usage of Evans as a surname. With their distinct Anglicised patronymic system, the Welsh loved using “double” names. It was mostly because, even back in the 18th century, Evans very much meant “son of Evan” and could change with each generation according to the old tradition.

    Evan Evans was a very common pairing, as was William Williams, Hugh Hughes, Jenkin Jenkins, David Davies, Owen Owens etc… In fact, most families with one of these patronymic surnames had a son with the same name as a first name.

    On my Welsh side, I even have a gt gt aunt who married a man named Humphrey Humphries!

  4. I once met a girl named Evan, she would be in her late teens now, I’ve also known a boy or 2 named Evan, but because of the girl I no longer automaticlly assume boy when I hear the name

    1. Thank you for that (not automatically assuming..). I am a woman, although much past 20, I too am named Evan. My mother liked the name and had decided that would be my name even though she didn’t know my sex. I was just going to be Evan when I came out and that was that. My brother, just younger, was going to be Sidney no matter what he was either. I’ve only met one other woman named Evan in my life, but I have noticed that there are more little boys being named Evan in recent years.

  5. Evans is a family name and I wanted to use it or Evan for a boy or a girl. But there’s an Eva among the cousins and I didn’t want to use it *that* much. Plus, my SIL who works with young children pulled a face and said “too popular” when I mentioned it.

  6. Strangely, I *love* the name Owen, and I don’t mind Ewan/Euan, but I hate Evan. I can’t justify this by any reasonable metric.