Evelyn started as an English surname derived from the Norman given name Aveline, a diminutive of Ava, and is usually explained as "wished-for child" or "life"; it was once used for boys too, as in the writer Evelyn Waugh. A favorite of the early 1900s, it faded by the 1960s and returned with the vintage trend. Evelyn climbed from number 150 in 2000 into the top 10 in 2017 and ranks eighth in 2025.