girls' name ★ peaked 1921

Evelyn

Meaning (compare Latin avēre, Gender Girl Rank 2025 #8 Trend → Stable

From Middle English forms of the Old French female name Aveline, diminutive of the Germanic root *avi-, of uncertain meaning, possibly “desired, wished for“ (compare…

Rank 2025
#8
among girls · unchanged vs 2024
Babies in 2025
9,131
named Evelyn
How common
1 in 176
girls born in 2025
Peak year
1921
14,308 babies
All-time total
641,662
#42 all-time among girls
First recorded
1880
in Social Security records

Evelyn popularity over time

641,662 babies have been named Evelyn since 1880, according to official Social Security records. Switch measure to see births per year or the yearly rank.

Measure
Births per 1,000 babies of that sex, comparable across eras
3.757.511.251518801900192019401960198020002020GirlsBoys
GirlsBoys

By decade. Change compares yearly averages, so the current partial decade is on equal footing. Best rank is the name's best yearly rank within the decade.

Decade Girls Boys Total Per year Change Best rank
1880s 1,817 – 1,817 182 – #118
1890s 5,648 – 5,648 565 +211% #74
1900s 18,603 81 18,684 1,868 +231% #18
1910s 91,492 218 91,710 9,171 +391% #10
1920s 124,166 355 124,521 12,452 +36% #12
1930s 69,364 347 69,711 6,971 -44% #19
1940s 48,157 173 48,330 4,833 -31% #48
1950s 38,411 145 38,556 3,856 -20% #86
1960s 22,582 101 22,683 2,268 -41% #137
1970s 9,974 57 10,031 1,003 -56% #216
1980s 10,978 133 11,111 1,111 +11% #197
1990s 15,128 78 15,206 1,521 +37% #161
2000s 40,730 70 40,800 4,080 +168% #40
2010s 86,972 103 87,075 8,708 +113% #9
2020s (to 2025) 55,734 45 55,779 9,297 +7% #8

Where Evelyn is heading

A five-year projection from the recent trend in births per 1,000 girls (damped so it flattens over time), converted to babies at today's birth totals. The implied rank places that projection in the 2025 field. A projection, not a promise: real trends bend.

Year Projected babies Per 1,000 girls Implied rank
2026 9,017 5.61 #9
2027 8,929 5.56 #9
2028 8,854 5.51 #9
2029 8,791 5.47 #9
2030 8,737 5.44 #9

Where Evelyn is most popular

Girls named Evelyn per 1,000 girls born in each state, 2021–2025. National average: 5.70 per 1,000. Strongest in Wyoming, Vermont, and Maine.

Vs national average
well below below near national above well above no data

All 50 states and DC, sorted by rate. Counts are girls named Evelyn born 2021–2025; the per-1,000 rate makes states of different sizes comparable, and the last column shows each state against the national average.

State Girls 2021–2025 Per 1,000 vs national
Wyoming 103 24.2 +324%
Vermont 100 20.6 +262%
Maine 246 15.9 +179%
Alaska 135 15.7 +175%
North Dakota 205 15.6 +174%
New Hampshire 279 15.1 +165%
South Dakota 200 14.0 +146%
Montana 174 12.9 +126%
Idaho 405 12.1 +112%
Nebraska 409 11.4 +100%
Delaware 120 10.6 +86%
Minnesota 1,140 10.6 +85%
Wisconsin 1,073 10.4 +83%
Oregon 674 10.4 +82%
Utah 848 10.2 +79%
Kansas 583 10.1 +77%
Iowa 588 10.1 +77%
Washington 1,340 9.28 +63%
Colorado 1,003 8.99 +58%
Missouri 1,079 8.95 +57%
West Virginia 233 8.89 +56%
Kentucky 749 8.76 +54%
Ohio 2,076 8.75 +54%
Rhode Island 107 8.55 +50%
Indiana 1,198 8.53 +50%
District of Columbia 101 8.52 +50%
New Mexico 204 8.39 +47%
Michigan 1,520 8.34 +46%
Arkansas 439 8.31 +46%
Oklahoma 610 8.29 +45%
Massachusetts 976 8.07 +42%
Tennessee 1,269 8.01 +41%
Hawaii 91 7.94 +39%
Alabama 724 7.71 +35%
South Carolina 684 7.61 +34%
Virginia 1,261 7.40 +30%
Pennsylvania 1,694 7.16 +26%
Illinois 1,628 7.11 +25%
Arizona 960 6.84 +20%
North Carolina 1,532 6.73 +18%
Louisiana 559 6.39 +12%
Georgia 1,438 6.33 +11%
Maryland 664 6.27 +10%
Connecticut 353 6.07 +7%
Nevada 279 6.01 +5%
Mississippi 276 5.90 ≈ national
Texas 4,737 5.89 ≈ national
California 4,636 5.52 ≈ national
New York 1,876 4.74 -17%
Florida 1,905 4.45 -22%
New Jersey 734 4.07 -29%

State counts come from the Social Security Administration's state files, which omit any state-year with fewer than five babies of a name, so small states can undercount slightly.

The story of Evelyn

Evelyn is a top-10 name for girls in the United States, ranked #8 in 2025 with 9,123 babies given the name. It is currently rising compared with a decade ago.

Since 1880, 641,662 American babies have been named Evelyn. Its peak came in 1921, when 14,308 newborns received the name, the signature sound of the 1920s.

The chart above shows the full history: the popularity view (births per 1,000 babies) is the honest comparison across generations, since total US births have changed enormously since 1880. Switch to the rank view to see where Evelyn stood among all girls' names in any year, or use the compare tool to plot it against other names.

How old are people named Evelyn?

The median living Evelyn is about 19 years old; half are between 8 and 67. An estimated 323 thousand people named Evelyn are alive in the United States today.

median 19 020406080100

Estimated from births per year and Social Security period life tables; an approximation of the living age distribution, by age in years.

Evelyn year by year

Every year since 2001, and five-year steps back to 1880. Rank is within each sex.

Year Girls Girls rank Boys Boys rank
2025 9,123 #8 8 #9,161
2024 9,146 #8 6 #11,348
2023 9,121 #9 8 #9,177
2022 9,332 #9 6 #11,293
2021 9,495 #9 10 #7,774
2020 9,517 #9 7 #9,876
2019 10,443 #10 6 #11,196
2018 10,433 #10 13 #6,458
2017 10,748 #9 11 #7,241
2016 10,116 #12 8 #9,103
2015 9,377 #15 17 #5,362
2014 8,753 #16 5 #12,653
2013 7,670 #20 14 #6,010
2012 6,880 #27 13 #6,424
2011 6,709 #24 8 #9,003
2010 5,843 #39 8 #9,054
2009 5,584 #40 – –
2008 5,101 #54 10 #7,875
2007 5,054 #55 6 #11,378
2006 4,751 #65 10 #7,601
2005 4,490 #71 8 #8,531
2004 3,763 #84 11 #6,682
2003 3,701 #88 12 #5,988
2002 3,372 #98 7 #8,743
2001 2,691 #126 6 #9,652
2000 2,223 #150 – –
1995 1,508 #196 9 #6,073
1990 1,302 #220 14 #4,040
1985 1,132 #229 13 #3,471
1980 861 #288 10 #3,931
1975 868 #280 5 #5,738
1970 1,466 #216 9 #3,359
1965 2,003 #176 6 #3,661
1960 3,219 #137 9 #2,939
1955 3,805 #112 18 #1,864
1950 4,275 #86 10 #2,485
1945 4,377 #57 13 #1,957
1940 4,982 #48 24 #1,378
1935 6,560 #31 31 #1,210
1930 9,536 #19 50 #961
1925 12,505 #12 36 #1,189
1920 13,838 #12 24 #1,559
1915 11,595 #10 24 #1,384
1910 3,777 #17 14 #833
1905 1,661 #46 10 #805
1900 1,116 #70 7 #1,083
1895 630 #87 – –
1890 316 #125 – –
1885 191 #131 – –
1880 122 #133 – –

Famous people named Evelyn

The most globally famous bearers of the name, ranked by fame across Wikipedia editions (Pantheon project, MIT).

  1. 1 Evelyn Waugh Evelyn Waugh British writer and journalist (1903–1966) Contemporary
  2. 2 Evelyn Nesbit Evelyn Nesbit American model and actress (1884–1967) 19th century
  3. 3 Evelyn McHale Evelyn McHale American bookkeeper and suicide victim (1923–1947) Contemporary
  4. 4 Evelyn Keyes Evelyn Keyes American actress 1916–2008 · Contemporary
  5. 5 Evelyn Sharma Evelyn Sharma German model and actress b. 1986 · Contemporary
  6. 6 Evelyn Glennie Evelyn Glennie Scottish percussionist (born 1965) Contemporary
  7. 7 Evelyn Ankers Evelyn Ankers British-American actress (1918–1985) Contemporary
  8. 8 Evelyn De Morgan Evelyn De Morgan English painter (1855–1919) 19th century
  9. 9 Evelyn Baring, 1st Earl of Cromer Evelyn Baring, 1st Earl of Cromer British statesman, diplomat and colonial administrator (1841–1917) 19th century
  10. 10 Evelyn Brent Evelyn Brent American actress (1895–1975) 19th century
  11. 11 Evelyn Beatrice Hall English biographical writer (1868–1956) 19th century
  12. 12 Evelyn Venable Evelyn Venable American actress (1913–1993) Contemporary
  13. 13 Evelyn Ashford American sprinter b. 1957 · Contemporary
  14. 14 Evelyn Boyd Granville Evelyn Boyd Granville American academic (1924–2023) Contemporary
  15. 15 Evelyn Fox Keller Evelyn Fox Keller American physicist, author and feminist (1936–2023) Contemporary
  16. 16 Evelyn Berezin American computer scientist 1925–2018 · Contemporary
  17. 17 Evelyn Furtsch Evelyn Furtsch American sprinter (1914–2015) Contemporary
  18. 18 Evelyn Stevens Topics referred to by the same term b. 1983 · Contemporary

Portraits from Wikipedia (Wikimedia Commons).

Frequently asked questions

Quick answers about Evelyn, drawn from the same Social Security data as the charts above.

How old is the average Evelyn?

The median living Evelyn is about 19 years old. Half of all living Evelyns are between 8 and 67 years old.

How many people named Evelyn are alive today?

An estimated 323 thousand people named Evelyn are alive in the United States, based on 641,662 recorded births and Social Security life tables.

What does the name Evelyn mean?

From Middle English forms of the Old French female name Aveline, diminutive of the Germanic root *avi-, of uncertain meaning, possibly “desired, wished for“ (compare Latin avēre, "to wish for") or aval “strength”.

How popular is the name Evelyn in 2025?

Evelyn ranked #8 among girls' names in the United States in 2025, with 9,123 babies given the name, according to Social Security Administration data.

How many people are named Evelyn?

641,662 babies have been named Evelyn in the United States since 1880, based on Social Security card applications.

When was the name Evelyn most popular?

Evelyn peaked in 1921, when 14,308 newborns received the name.

Is Evelyn a boy or girl name?

Evelyn is overwhelmingly a girl's name: 100% of babies with the name.

Is the name Evelyn rising or falling?

Evelyn is on the rise, noticeably more popular now than a decade ago.

Will Evelyn become more popular?

Evelyn looks stable. If the recent trend holds, we project roughly 8,737 girls named Evelyn in 2030, ranking around #9. Forecasts assume the current trend continues and become less certain further out.

Who are famous people named Evelyn?

Well-known people named Evelyn include Evelyn Waugh (writer), Evelyn Nesbit (actor), Evelyn McHale (celebrity).

Names like Evelyn

Names that sound and feel close to Evelyn: shared sounds, similar era, similar popularity. Each links to its full history.

Compare Evelyn with similar names → More names starting with E →