Nicknames for Evelyn
27 ideas for Evelyn — the short forms people actually use, plus cute, funny and gamer versions. Copy any of them in one click.
- Evie the dominant short form
- Eve the clean one-syllable clip
- Ev the blunt version
- Lyn the back clip, a name of its own
- Evy the shorter spelling of Evie
- Lynnie the affectionate form of Lyn
- Eves the friend version
- Evs the tighter friend clip
- Evelina the Italian and Russian form
- Aveline the Norman French original
- Eibhlín the Irish form
- Ewelina the Polish form
- Evelin the German and Hungarian spelling
- Evelyne the French spelling
- Eveliina the Finnish form
- Lina the middle-and-end, used in Europe
- Evie-Bear the usual affectionate pattern
- Evie-Rose the standard compound
- Evelyn-Grace the other common pairing
- Evie-Lou the rhyming family extension
- Vee the middle letter, said as a name
- E initial only, in group chats
- Waugh the novelist joke, for the literary
- Evelyn Bug family pet name
- Eve-Eve doubled, used by younger siblings
- Eibhlin The Irish form of Evelyn.
- Electric Evelyn Shares the "E" sound with Evelyn.
About the name Evelyn.
It surprises people to learn this was a man's name first. The novelist Evelyn Waugh was one, and so was his first wife, which their friends found funny enough to nickname them He-Evelyn and She-Evelyn. The source is the Norman French Aveline, a diminutive of a Germanic root meaning something like desired, though a hazelnut reading also circulates. It became an English surname, then swung back into use as a given name for both sexes in the nineteenth century. The female side won decisively. After a long slide to almost nothing in the 1980s it turned around completely, and it now sits among the strongest of the American vintage revivals.
There is a soft, slightly wistful quality here that the three syllables draw out. Evie is the modern default and pulls the name toward the nursery. Eve is the severe option and sounds a generation older. Lyn, cut from the back, was standard in the 1940s and now reads unmistakably as somebody's grandmother.
Most popular around 2020. Based on US birth records.
- Origin
- Norman French
- Meaning
- from Aveline, desired
- Syllables
- Ev·e·lyn
- Used as
- a girls’ name
Evelyn around the world.
These are the real forms Evelyn takes in other languages, which often make excellent nicknames in their own right.
-
Aveline
French
-
Evelina
Italian
-
Eibhlin
Irish
-
Ewelina
Polish
Famous people called Evelyn.
-
Evelyn Waugh
English novelist, wrote Brideshead Revisited
-
Evelyn Glennie
Scottish percussionist, profoundly deaf
-
Evelyn Ashford
American Olympic sprint champion
Questions about the name Evelyn
Is it EV-uh-lin or EEV-lin? +
Both exist. American speakers generally say EV-uh-lin with three syllables and a short first vowel. British usage often prefers EEV-lin with a long e and two syllables, particularly for the surname and for older bearers. Neither side considers the other wrong.
Was Evelyn ever a boy's name? +
Yes, and not rarely. Nineteenth and early twentieth century Britain used it for both sexes, mostly among the upper classes, where surnames as first names were fashionable. The novelist Evelyn Waugh is the best-known example. Male use had essentially stopped by the 1950s.
What are the nicknames? +
Evie dominates now and is often spelled Evy. Eve is the clean one-syllable option and functions as a name in its own right. Ev is brisk and used by friends. Lyn and Lynn, taken from the end, belong to older generations.
How is Evelyn related to Eveline and Aveline? +
They are the same name at different stages. Aveline is the Norman French original, Eveline the anglicised medieval form, and Evelyn the spelling that stuck once the name had passed through surname use. Evelina is the Italian and literary variant of the same line.