Evans (surname)

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Evans
Origin
Language(s) Welsh, English
Derivation Ivan; Eve; Owain
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. [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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Rhys Owain Evans, known as Rhys Ifans, is a Welsh actor. His portrayed roles in Notting Hill (1999), Kevin & Perry Go Large (2000), and Enduring Love (2004), in addition to Xenophilius Lovegood in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (2010), Dr. Curt Connors / Lizard in The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) and Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), and Grigori Rasputin in The King's Man (2021). His television roles include Hector DeJean in the Epix thriller series Berlin Station, Mycroft Holmes in the CBS series Elementary, and Otto Hightower in the HBO fantasy series House of the Dragon.

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Euan is a Scottish, male given name, most common throughout the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, due to the influence of Scots in both nations. It is a derivative of the Pictish name, Uuen, which is the Pictish British cognate of Eòghann in Gaelic. It is also, less commonly, a surname.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ewan</span> Name list

Ewan is an anglicisation of the Scottish Gaelic name Eòghann. It is possibly a derivative of the Pictish name, Uuen, "The Warrior" or "born of the mountain". It is most common as a male given name in Scotland and Canada. It is also, less commonly, a surname, especially among the Scottish Clans, examples of variation in spelling include McEwan’s beer and MacEwan University.

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. 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, is a Celtic language historically spoken in Britain and Brittany from which evolved the later and modern Brittonic languages.

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.

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.