Evalyn
A feminine name of English origin meaning "wished for child".
Name Census estimates that about 5,462 living Americans carry the first name Evalyn. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Evalyn today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Evalyn births was 2014 (331 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Evalyn. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Evalyn with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
5.5K
~ 1 in 62,753 Americans
Peak year
2014
331 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,351
Tracked since 1880
Census
Evalyn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,806 people with the first name Evalyn, which placed it at #4,033 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#4,033
National first-name rank
People counted
4.8K
4,806 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
64.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Evalyn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Evalyn is White at 64.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (22.0%) and Two or More Races (4.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Evalyn described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Evalyn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White64.9% · 3,118
- Hispanic or Latino22.0% · 1,056
- Two or more races4.6% · 220
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.5% · 214
- Black or African American3.3% · 161
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 37
Popularity
Evalyn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Evalyn from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 2,798 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Evalyn remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Evalyn by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Evalyn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Evalyns live
The SSA's state-level files cover 35 states and territories. Texas, California, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Evalyn, while West Virginia, South Dakota, Maryland recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 153 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Evalyn
The name Evalyn originated from the Old English language, emerging around the 5th century AD. It is a feminine form derived from the Old English name Ælfwine, which translates to "elf friend" or "elf companion." The prefix "Ælf" refers to the mythological creatures known as elves, while the suffix "wine" means friend or companion.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Evalyn can be traced back to the Anglo-Saxon period in England. It was particularly popular among the nobility and upper classes, who often drew inspiration from Old English names with connections to folklore and mythology.
One of the earliest known historical references to the name Evalyn comes from the Domesday Book, a medieval census commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The name appears in several entries, indicating its usage among the Anglo-Saxon population of the time.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Evalyn saw sporadic use across various parts of England. Notable individuals who bore this name include Evalyn de Montfort, a 13th-century noblewoman and landowner (born c. 1225), and Evalyn Stafford, a 14th-century aristocrat and courtier (born c. 1350).
During the Renaissance period, the name Evalyn experienced a resurgence in popularity. One prominent figure with this name was Evalyn Calvert, an English settler and landowner in colonial Maryland, born in 1623. She played a significant role in the early development of the Maryland colony.
In the 18th century, Evalyn Granville (1708-1789) was a British author and playwright known for her plays and novels, which explored themes of female independence and social critique.
Another notable bearer of the name was Evalyn Walsh McLean (1886-1947), an American socialite and mining heiress famous for her extensive collection of jewels, including the Hope Diamond.
While the name Evalyn has maintained a relatively consistent presence throughout history, it has seen periods of increased popularity and occasional variations in spelling, such as Evaline or Evelyn.
People
Evalyn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Evalyn as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with E
Other first names starting with E with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Evalyn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Evalyn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5,462 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Evalyn going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 62,753 US residents.
Is Evalyn a common name?
We classify Evalyn as "Rare". It ranks above 96.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 9,415 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Evalyn most popular?
The single biggest year for Evalyn was 2014, when 331 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Evalyn is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Evalyn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,806 people with the name Evalyn, or 1.59 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,033 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Evalyn in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Evalyn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Evalyn appears almost entirely female. Of the 4,812 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Evalyn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Evalyn is White at 64.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (22.0%) and Two or More Races (4.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Evalyn most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Evalyn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 64.9% (3,118 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Evalyn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Evalyn a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Evalyn in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Evalyn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Evalyn in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Evalyn can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are called Evalyn?
You can see how many Americans are named Evalyn on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.