boy's name
Evan
EV-an
- Origin Welsh
- Gender Boy
- Syllables 2
- Letters 4
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 394,157
the United States
#153
2025 births
Evan is a boy's name of Welsh origin meaning "God is gracious." It anglicizes Ifan, the Welsh form of John, and is one of the most recognisably Welsh names in general English use.
- Evan is a name of Welsh origin.
- Peaked in 2007, when 10,410 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 1,347 babies in the United States is given this name.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Evan over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1880s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 192 |
| 1890s | 187 |
| 1900s | 218 |
| 1910s | 1,153 |
| 1920s | 1,567 |
| 1930s | 1,193 |
| 1940s | 1,579 |
| 1950s | 3,107 |
| 1960s | 5,199 |
| 1970s | 8,020 |
| 1980s | 33,267 |
| 1990s | 60,404 |
| 2000s | 93,200 |
| 2010s | 65,690 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 17,450 |
What Evan means
Evan means God is gracious, inherited from John. The Hebrew Yohanan combines a shortening of the divine name with hanan, gracious — a statement about God rather than the child.
Where Evan comes from
Evan anglicizes the Welsh Ifan, itself from Ieuan, the Welsh development of the Latin Iohannes and ultimately the Hebrew Yohanan. Welsh has produced an unusual number of forms of John — Ieuan, Ifan, Iwan, Siôn and Evan among them — because the name arrived more than once, through Latin and later through English. Evan also generated the Welsh surname Evans, one of the most common in Wales. A separate Hebrew word even, meaning stone, is sometimes offered as a source and is unrelated.
Evan in use
Our data shows Evan falling, peaking in 2007, at 197 in England and Wales. It first appears in our records in 1880 and has never dropped out. It sits alongside Ieuan and Iwan in our data — the same name three times, though only Evan travels outside Wales.
How popular is Evan?
In 2025, Evan was given to 2,462 babies in the United States, ranking #153 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Evan is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
How Evan is spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Évan | Évan is Evan written with an acute accent, used in France, where it ranks #641. | 1,215 |
| Evän | Evän is a rare spelling of Evan, written with a diaeresis and recorded about 15 times, mostly in France. | 15 |
Names that peaked alongside Evan
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Evan also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Evan over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Evan in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
- Amis
- Iwan
- Ancient Greek
- Ioannis
- Arabic
- Jehan
- Armenian
- Ivan
- Atayal
- Iwan
- Breton
- Yann
- Bulgarian
- Ivan
- Dutch
- Jean Joan Juan Johnny Ian Ivan Giovanni Jan Johan Gianni Johann Hans Joannes Johannes Iwan Ivo Hannes
- Finnish
- Hannes
- Galician
- Ivo
- Greek
- Ioannis
- Hungarian
- Janka
- Icelandic
- Hannes
- Macedonian
- Ivan
- North Germanic
- Jan
- Occitan
- Joan
- Russian
- Ivan
- Sardinian
- Ioan
- Seediq
- Iwan
- Serbian
- Ivan
- Ukrainian
- Ivan
Sibling names for Evan
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Evan — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Evan
What does the name Evan mean?
Evan means "God is gracious," from the Welsh Ifan, a form of John.
Is Evan a Welsh name?
Yes — it anglicizes Ifan, and it produced Evans, one of the most common Welsh surnames.
Are Evan and Ewan the same name?
No. Ewan is Scottish, from the Gaelic Eòghann, and has a separate and disputed origin.
How popular is the name Evan?
In 2025, Evan was given to 2,462 babies in the United States, ranking #153 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Is Evan a girl's or a boy's name?
Evan is given almost entirely to boys in birth records.
How many syllables are in Evan?
Evan has 2 syllables.
When was Evan most popular?
Evan peaked in 2007, when 10,410 babies were given the name. It has been falling over the past decade.
Is Evan a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Evan currently ranks #80 in the United States. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.