Evelyn
name ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A female given name from the Germanic languages.
"Beautiful Evelyn Hope is dead! / Sit and watch by her side an hour."
- 2 A surname originating as a matronymic.
- 3 A male given name transferred from the surname.
"Evelyn Waugh"
- 4 A place name:; A rural locality in Tablelands Region, Queensland, Australia.
- 5 A place name:; A community in Middlesex Centre municipality, Middlesex County, Ontario, Canada.
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- 6 A place name:; A locality in Munising Township, Alger County, Michigan, United States.
- 7 A place name:; An unincorporated community in Henderson County, Texas, United States.
- 8 A place name:; A former unincorporated community in Wirt County, West Virginia, United States.
Example
More examples"Theirs was a nervous household. Jock and Hurry confined indoors for nearly two days had had too little exercise and too many good things to eat. They were quite cross and irrepressible. John had the fidgets. He couldn't even stay in the same room for more than a minute, and he wouldn't even try sitting down for a change. Lucy had had to give up at least a dozen things that required dry weather and sunshine. She seemed to take the rain as something directed particularly against herself by malicious persons. Evelyn, also cross and nervous, was on the point of retiring to her own room to write letters. Just then Dawson Cooper telephoned to know if she cared to take a little walk in the rain and she accepted with alacrity."
Etymology
Medieval English form of the Old French female name Aveline, diminutive of the Germanic root *avi-, of uncertain meaning, possibly “desired, wished for“ (compare Latin aveo (“to wish for”)), or aval “strength”. By folk etymology the name Eve is seen as a diminutive of the female given name. Doublet of Eileen. Also compare Ava.
Related phrases
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.