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Definition of evelyn

evelyn

/ˈɛv.əl.ɪn/
Ev · e · lyn
Plural:Evelyns
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evelyn Lexical Profile

• noun

1

A female or, historically and chiefly in British usage, male given name of Norman and Germanic origin.

Example

"They decided to name their newborn daughter Evelyn after her great-grandmother."

2

An English surname derived from the medieval Norman personal name Aveline.

Example

"The seventeenth-century diarist John Evelyn documented the Great Fire of London in vivid detail."

Word Nuance & Usage

While primarily used as a female given name today, Evelyn was historically common as a male given name in Britain (as in author Evelyn Waugh) and retains pronunciation differences between British (/ˈiːvlɪn/) and American (/ˈɛvəlɪn/) English.

• Nearby Words

evasiveness
eve
eveline
evelyn
even
evenhanded
evenhandedly

Word Origin & Etymology

Derived from an English surname that developed from the Norman French female given name Aveline, a diminutive of Avila, of ancient Germanic origin.

Cite this Entry

Wordmom. (2026). Definition of Evelyn. In Wordmom Dictionary. Retrieved Nov 5, 2026, from https://wordmom.com/dictionary/evelyn
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