Evans (surname)

Last updated
Evans
Origin
Language(s) Welsh, English
Derivation Ivan; Eve; Owain, Evangelos
Meaning"Son of Evan"; life; God is merciful
Region of origin Wales, Cornwall

Evans is a male name and surname of Welsh, and possibly Cornish, origin. [1] [2] Within Wales it is the fifth most common surname and is the tenth most common in England. [3] [4] Within the United States, it is ranked as the 48th-most common surname. The male name Evans in Greek is Evangelos. [5]

Contents

Origin

A modern variation, is used as a masculine version of the hebrew name Eve. Though, the traditional name Evans is of Welsh origin. In its anglicised form, the name means "son of Evan". Regarding its Welsh roots, it is a derivative of the name Ifan, a cognate of John. [6] In the Welsh language, the f produces the v sound; Ifan (Ivan) became Evan.

Another school of thought is that ‘Evan’ ( Yvain, Yvainne) is the Latinised Norman-French derivation of ‘Owain’. An example of this is ‘Yvain des Galles’ , better known as ‘Owain Llawgoch’ in his native Wales. In the Welsh language the patronymic "ab Evan" resulted in the anglicized surname "Bevan", which is also common in Wales. Evans is a popular name in England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, United States of America, Canada, and Australia.


The similarity to the Slavic name Ivan is not accidental, as it is also a cognate of John.

Notable persons named Evans

Related Research Articles

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Jones is a surname of Welsh and English origin meaning "son of John". The surname is common in Wales. It evolved from variations of traditionally Welsh names: Ieuan, Iowan, Ioan, Iwan, or even Siôn. The sound generated from ‘Si-’ in Siôn is a Welsh approximation of the English ‘J’ sound that does not exist natively to the language, equivalent to the English ‘Sh’ such as in “shed.”

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Anwyl of Tywyn are a Welsh family who claim a patrilinear descent from Owain Gwynedd, King of Gwynedd from 1137 to 1170 and a scion of the royal House of Aberffraw. The family motto is: Eryr eryrod Eryri, which translates as "The Eagle of the Eagles of Snowdonia. The family lives in Gwynedd and speak Welsh.

Cornish surnames are surnames used by Cornish people and often derived from the Cornish language such as Jago, Trelawney or Enys. Others have strong roots in the region and many in the UK with names such as Eddy, Stark or Rowe are likely to have Cornish origins. Such surnames for the common people emerged in the Middle Ages, although the nobility probably had surnames much earlier on. Not until the later Middle Ages did it become necessary for a common man to have a surname. Most surnames were fully established throughout Cornwall by the end of the 15th century. Today Cornish surnames can be found throughout the world as part of the Cornish diaspora.

Common Brittonic, also known as British, Common Brythonic, or Proto-Brittonic, was a Celtic language spoken in Britain and Brittany.

Ferch may refer to:

Owain is a name of Welsh origin, variously written in Old Welsh as Ougein, Eugein, Euguen, Iguein, Ou(u)ein, Eug(u)ein, Yuein, and in Middle Welsh as Ewein, Owein, and Ywein. Other variants of the name Owain include Ewein, Iguein, Owein, Ouein, Ywen, Ywein, Ywain, Yuein, and Yvain. Owain has also been Latinized as Oenus.

Ifan is one of several Welsh forms of the male given name John.

References

  1. George Pawley White. A handbook of Cornish surnames
  2. "Cornish surnames E". Freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com. Retrieved 2013-07-15.
  3. "Campbell Surname Meaning and Distribution". forebears.co.uk. Retrieved 21 January 2014
  4. "Diffusion of surname EVANS". Surname Map United Kingdom. Retrieved 2023-02-28.
  5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on October 12, 2010. Retrieved August 10, 2006.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. Kimberly Powell. "Evans Surname Meaning and Origin". About.com Parenting. Archived from the original on 2006-07-15. Retrieved 2006-08-09.