The story in the numbers

630,574 girls have been named Evelyn in the United States since 1880, according to Social Security records. The busiest single year was 1921, with 14,278 births — 1.2% of all girls recorded that year.

This is a comeback. After an early peak the name fell to a fraction of its former share, and it has been climbing again for the past decade.

Half of everyone given the name was born by 1940, and the 1920s alone account for 20%. It has spent 145 of 145 years in the top 1,000, 83 of them in the top 100 and 9 in the top 10.

It is overwhelmingly a girl’s name: 1,898 boys have also been given it, 0.30% of the total.

Rank among girls, year by year

By decade

Decade

girls named Evelyn

1,817

5,648

18,603

91,492

124,166

69,363

48,158

38,411

22,581

9,975

10,976

15,126

40,729

86,965

46,564

In 1921, its biggest year

Evelyn was the 12th most given girl’s name that year. The top five girls’ names of 1921 were Mary, Dorothy, Helen, Margaret and Ruth. See all of 1921.

Names that rose and fell with Evelyn

Same sex, most similar popularity curve over 145 years, in five-year steps — the shape of the line, not the size.

Other spellings in the data

What this page does not tell you. The Social Security data records how many babies were given a name, not what the name means or where it comes from — so neither do we. Counts cover people with a Social Security number; names given to fewer than five babies in a year are withheld. More on the data.