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Help[Facts] The use of Evelyn before Pierrepont
I was interested to know if Evelyn was still in use as a woman's name in England in the 1660s when Evelyn Pierrepont was named. I found his marriage licence listed in an index, he married Dame Mary Feilding in 1687. There is also a woman named Evelyn Heape who married Stephen Humphrey in 1682 in the same index. There is an Eveling Parke as well, married in 1680.
Pierrepont named his own daughter Evelyn, so I don't think Evelyn was ever more common for men than women. It was just very rare so easily unisex.
I wrote more with sources here: https://www.name-pop.com/2025/03/was-evelyn-ever-more-common-for-men.html
Pierrepont named his own daughter Evelyn, so I don't think Evelyn was ever more common for men than women. It was just very rare so easily unisex.
I wrote more with sources here: https://www.name-pop.com/2025/03/was-evelyn-ever-more-common-for-men.html
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Very interesting article!
So it’s possible that the surname Evelyn was not immediately associated with Aveline, or it might have been considered acceptable as a unisex name, or rather, a name whose male and female forms coincided in pronunciation and/or spelling. This is similar to other names in the period, such as Francis/Frances. Or Evelyn wasn’t common enough for women to give it a strongly feminine edge.
Moreover in the Tudor period some surnames were also used as given names for men. Examples include Douglas and Essex. Making Evelyn also acceptable for both genders.
It’s a rare example of a feminine name being used for women (although thanks to it being crystallised as a surname).
So it’s possible that the surname Evelyn was not immediately associated with Aveline, or it might have been considered acceptable as a unisex name, or rather, a name whose male and female forms coincided in pronunciation and/or spelling. This is similar to other names in the period, such as Francis/Frances. Or Evelyn wasn’t common enough for women to give it a strongly feminine edge.
Moreover in the Tudor period some surnames were also used as given names for men. Examples include Douglas and Essex. Making Evelyn also acceptable for both genders.
It’s a rare example of a feminine name being used for women (although thanks to it being crystallised as a surname).
This message was edited yesterday, 9:49 AM
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I think you mean "some surnames were also acceptable for women"? The Index also had a woman named Essex (maybe the same one you are thinking of), and of course there's lady Douglas Sheffeild. You are right, this woman named Evelyn might also have been named after the surname! It was a unisex name trend although it did end up getting much more popular only for boys, at least in England.
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In the UK, Leslie Dunkling wrote the Guinness Book of Names: definitely designed to be read by people who don't need to know the difficult details. Scholarly but scanty. Anyway, in the chapter First Name Origins: The central stock of girls' names, he lists "Evelyn: historical; Old German; of uncertain meaning." Unfortunately, that's all: no suggestion of how and when an Old German name became English.
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C.M. Yonge said it was from the French word for hazelnut tree in 1863, and that the surname had a different etymology from Eveline, but I don't think that's true due to the age of the French word being too young (if I remember correctly). Perhaps that's why Leslie Dunkling wrote "uncertain etymology".
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