Evelyn was a Norman surname long before it was her name — now it's the hero's

Where the name Evelyn comes from

Evelyn started life as a surname, not a first name. It came to England with the Normans, most likely from the Old French Aveline, a diminutive of a Germanic name element "Avi" or "Avila" whose original meaning is uncertain. You will often see it explained as "wished-for child" or linked to the Latin avis, "bird", but those readings are later guesses rather than settled fact, and it is fairer to say the meaning has been lost somewhere in the Middle Ages.

For centuries Evelyn was used for boys as often as for girls, usually by families passing on a surname. The seventeenth-century diarist John Evelyn carried it as a family name, and the English novelist Evelyn Waugh was a man, which surprises a lot of people today. Waugh pronounced it "EEV-lin", an older British pronunciation you can still hear occasionally; most New Zealanders say "EV-uh-lin".

During the twentieth century the name drifted firmly to the girls' side, then faded for several decades and sounded like a grandmother's name. That made it ripe for a comeback. Over the last fifteen years or so Evelyn has climbed back up the charts across the English-speaking world, reaching the top ten in the United States and becoming a familiar name in New Zealand and Australian classrooms too. Parents who choose it today often like exactly that mix: a name with history and a vintage feel that still sounds fresh on a little girl.

Because Evelyn has never been tied to a single saint or feast day, there is no fixed name day to celebrate. Her birthday is the day the name gets its moment, and a book where Evelyn is the one who steers the rocket or befriends the new kid in the park is a fitting way to mark it.

Evie, Eve, Lyn: what Evelyn gets called

If you can't decide which name the story should use, Evelyn for the narration and Evie for the people who love her is a pairing that reads naturally on the page. Below are the forms families use most, and where each one tends to turn up.

• Evelyn — The full name, for introductions, school rolls, and the moments in a story when the narrator wants the scene to feel important.
• Evie — By far the most common short form, and in recent years popular enough to be given as a name in its own right. Warm, quick and easy for younger siblings to say.
• Eve — A shorter, slightly more grown-up clipping that some families use as she gets older.
• Evvie or Evs — Playful versions mostly heard at home or among friends; Evs is a very Kiwi and Aussie way to shorten almost anything.
• Lyn or Lynnie — Built from the end of the name instead of the start. Less common today, but a sweet option if Evie is already taken by a cousin.
• Evelyn, in full voice — The whole name, said slowly and firmly, is what many parents reserve for the moment shoes really do need to go on. In a story it signals that something big is about to happen.
• Ev — A one-syllable nickname with a sporty, tomboyish feel, the kind a teammate shouts across a netball court.