Primarily a girl's name · 100% girls
Origin: EnglishEvelyn is a matronymic English surname derived from the medieval girl's name Aveline. Since the 17th century, it has also been used as a given name. The earliest recorded bearer was Evelyn Pierrepont, who was a grandson of the Roundhead politician Sir John Evelyn.
From Wikipedia
In Pythagorean numerology, every letter has a value from 1 to 9. Adding the letters of Evelyn yields these three numbers — a playful read on the name's character.
Evelyn's story runs opposite to most names in this batch: it actually peaked back in 1921 at 14,278 births, decades before almost every other name here reached its high point, and has spent the century since well below that level — its 2024 count of 9,116 is still 4% higher than a decade ago, a slow modern recovery rather than a decline from a recent peak.
The name has been recorded every year since 1880, giving it one of the longest and most stable histories in this batch, present through the entire 20th century rather than arriving as a recent addition like Mateo or Ezra.
Its famous-bearer list spans writer Evelyn Waugh, ballerina Margot Fonteyn, and actress Angela Bassett — a name used by both men and women historically (Waugh was male), which may partly explain its unusually long, low-drama presence in the data rather than the sharp peak-and-decline pattern more common among names tied to one specific era or gender association.
Why did you choose this name — or what does it mean to you? Approved stories appear on this page.
→ See names similar to Evelyn · Compare Evelyn with another name → · Popular names of the 1920s · Girls names starting with E
Rank is among all girls' names registered that year.
| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1880 | 122 | #133 |
| 1881 | 116 | #135 |
| 1882 | 125 | #142 |
| 1883 | 139 | #141 |
| 1884 | 170 | #134 |
| 1885 | 191 | #131 |
| 1886 | 203 | #135 |
| 1887 | 194 | #135 |
| 1888 | 237 | #139 |
| 1889 | 320 | #118 |
| 1890 | 316 | #125 |
| 1891 | 362 | #109 |
| 1892 | 418 | #106 |
| 1893 | 457 | #104 |
| 1894 | 491 | #99 |
| 1895 | 630 | #87 |
| 1896 | 646 | #84 |
| 1897 | 690 | #80 |
| 1898 | 836 | #76 |
| 1899 | 802 | #74 |
| 1900 | 1,116 | #70 |
| 1901 | 966 | #62 |
| 1902 | 1,151 | #59 |
| 1903 | 1,211 | #54 |
| 1904 | 1,372 | #50 |
| 1905 | 1,661 | #46 |
| 1906 | 2,077 | #32 |
| 1907 | 3,035 | #18 |
| 1908 | 2,857 | #20 |
| 1909 | 3,157 | #18 |
| 1910 | 3,777 | #17 |
| 1911 | 4,076 | #16 |
| 1912 | 5,620 | #13 |
| 1913 | 6,683 | #12 |
| 1914 | 8,506 | #11 |
| 1915 | 11,595 | #10 |
| 1916 | 11,889 | #11 |
| 1917 | 12,532 | #11 |
| 1918 | 13,493 | #11 |
| 1919 | 13,321 | #11 |
| 1920 | 13,838 | #12 |
| 1921 | 14,278 | #12 |
| 1922 | 13,319 | #13 |
| 1923 | 13,174 | #12 |
| 1924 | 13,358 | #12 |
| 1925 | 12,505 | #12 |
| 1926 | 11,780 | #13 |
| 1927 | 11,495 | #15 |
| 1928 | 10,533 | #17 |
| 1929 | 9,886 | #19 |
| 1930 | 9,536 | #19 |
| 1931 | 8,491 | #24 |
| 1932 | 7,958 | #23 |
| 1933 | 6,948 | #30 |
| 1934 | 6,983 | #29 |
| 1935 | 6,560 | #31 |
| 1936 | 6,108 | #34 |
| 1937 | 5,760 | #36 |
| 1938 | 5,688 | #38 |
| 1939 | 5,331 | #40 |
| 1940 | 4,982 | #48 |
| 1941 | 4,929 | #50 |
| 1942 | 4,940 | #53 |
| 1943 | 4,912 | #53 |
| 1944 | 4,516 | #57 |
| 1945 | 4,377 | #57 |
| 1946 | 4,890 | #65 |
| 1947 | 5,243 | #72 |
| 1948 | 4,840 | #74 |
| 1949 | 4,529 | #80 |
| 1950 | 4,275 | #86 |
| 1951 | 4,232 | #88 |
| 1952 | 4,155 | #90 |
| 1953 | 4,064 | #94 |
| 1954 | 3,952 | #109 |
| 1955 | 3,805 | #112 |
| 1956 | 3,748 | #120 |
| 1957 | 3,640 | #125 |
| 1958 | 3,275 | #134 |
| 1959 | 3,265 | #134 |
| 1960 | 3,218 | #137 |
| 1961 | 2,941 | #146 |
| 1962 | 2,781 | #153 |
| 1963 | 2,566 | #159 |
| 1964 | 2,380 | #163 |
| 1965 | 2,003 | #176 |
| 1966 | 1,872 | #176 |
| 1967 | 1,723 | #184 |
| 1968 | 1,645 | #192 |
| 1969 | 1,452 | #215 |
| 1970 | 1,466 | #216 |
| 1971 | 1,301 | #231 |
| 1972 | 1,060 | #254 |
| 1973 | 1,015 | #249 |
| 1974 | 942 | #270 |
| 1975 | 868 | #280 |
| 1976 | 819 | #280 |
| 1977 | 832 | #289 |
| 1978 | 820 | #283 |
| 1979 | 852 | #286 |
| 1980 | 859 | #288 |
| 1981 | 1,031 | #243 |
| 1982 | 1,377 | #197 |
| 1983 | 1,139 | #222 |
| 1984 | 1,050 | #239 |
| 1985 | 1,132 | #229 |
| 1986 | 1,081 | #240 |
| 1987 | 1,012 | #253 |
| 1988 | 1,124 | #235 |
| 1989 | 1,171 | #235 |
| 1990 | 1,302 | #220 |
| 1991 | 1,269 | #222 |
| 1992 | 1,411 | #203 |
| 1993 | 1,347 | #211 |
| 1994 | 1,451 | #202 |
| 1995 | 1,508 | #196 |
| 1996 | 1,596 | #188 |
| 1997 | 1,571 | #191 |
| 1998 | 1,707 | #178 |
| 1999 | 1,964 | #161 |
| 2000 | 2,223 | #150 |
| 2001 | 2,692 | #126 |
| 2002 | 3,372 | #98 |
| 2003 | 3,701 | #88 |
| 2004 | 3,763 | #84 |
| 2005 | 4,489 | #71 |
| 2006 | 4,751 | #65 |
| 2007 | 5,054 | #55 |
| 2008 | 5,100 | #54 |
| 2009 | 5,584 | #40 |
| 2010 | 5,843 | #39 |
| 2011 | 6,709 | #24 |
| 2012 | 6,880 | #27 |
| 2013 | 7,668 | #20 |
| 2014 | 8,753 | #16 |
| 2015 | 9,376 | #15 |
| 2016 | 10,116 | #12 |
| 2017 | 10,747 | #9 |
| 2018 | 10,432 | #10 |
| 2019 | 10,441 | #10 |
| 2020 | 9,516 | #9 |
| 2021 | 9,489 | #9 |
| 2022 | 9,330 | #9 |
| 2023 | 9,113 | #9 |
| 2024 | 9,116 | #8 |
