Evelyn

E1V4E1L1Y4N1
/ˈɛvəlɪn//ˈiːvlɪn/

proper noun

A female given name from the Germanic languages.

“Evelyn Waugh”

Less commonScrabble 12
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Meanings

proper noun
  1. A female given name from the Germanic languages.

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

    1855, Robert Browning, Evelyn Hope
    1 more example

    "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.

    1980, Salman Rushdie, Midnight's Children, Alfred A.Knopf, published 1981, →ISBN, page 179
  2. A surname originating as a matronymic.
  3. A male given name transferred from the surname.

    Evelyn Waugh

  4. A place name:
    1. A rural locality in Tablelands Region, Queensland, Australia.
    2. A community in Middlesex Centre municipality, Middlesex County, Ontario, Canada.
    3. A locality in Munising Township, Alger County, Michigan, United States.
    4. An unincorporated community in Henderson County, Texas, United States.
    5. A former unincorporated community in Wirt County, West Virginia, United States.

Origin

From Middle English forms of the Old French female name Aveline, diminutive of the Germanic root *avi-, of uncertain meaning, possibly “desired, wished for“ (compare Latin avēre, "to wish for") or aval “strength”. By folk etymology also misunderstood as a diminutive of the feminine given name Eve, q.v. Doublet of Eileen. Also compare Ava.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 伊夫琳
  • 伊夫琳 (Yīfūlín)female given name
Czech Evelína
  • Evelínafemale given name
Estonian Evelin
  • Evelinfemale given name
Finnish Eveliina
  • Eveliinafemale given name
French Évelyne
  • Évelynefemale given name
Greek Εβελίνα
  • Εβελίνα (Evelína)female given name
Hungarian Evelin
  • Evelinfemale given name
Irish Eibhlín
  • Eibhlínfemale given name
Latvian Evelīna
  • Evelīnafemale given name
Polish Ewelina
  • Ewelinafemale given name
Portuguese Evelina, Evelin
  • Evelinafemale given name
  • Evelinfemale given name
Russian Эвели́на, Э́велин
  • Эвели́на (Evelína)female given name
  • Э́велин (Évelin)female given name
Swedish Evelina
  • Evelinafemale given name

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

evenlylevyne
Cite this entry
APA

Evelyn. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Evelyn

MLA

“Evelyn.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Evelyn. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Evelyn,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Evelyn.

Source: Evelyn on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.