by Ann Major

Created on: February 21, 2008

From sainthood to professions such as doctors and lawyers, the namesake of EVAN is held in high regard. The name EVAN is masculine but recently have been chosen for female names as well. Pronounced EV-an, it is the short form of JOHN or EVANGELOS.

VARIANTS of EVAN: include Eoghan, Evann,Evon,Evyn,Euan,Euen,Iefan, Ifan

ETYMOLOGY:
The name EVAN is Irish for "young warrior", meaning fearless and bold. Evan has its origins in religion as originally, it stood for "The Lord has favored", to the Scottish "right handed" or in Welsh "Gift of God" and "God is Good", same meaning as for John.

ORIGINS AND HISTORY:
Saint Evan (9th century) was a Scottish hermit who lived in Ayrshire, Scotland. Since his martyrdom, many churches around the area were named after him. The Feast Day of Saint Evan is August 18th. Evan as a name has been around Wales and England since 1500. Before that, the name commonly used was Iefan, Yevan of which Evan is a variant. Its popularity in Wales then gradually spread to other English-speaking countries.

POPULARITY:
From 1900's-1970's, the name Evan did not break out of its mid-range popularity until the 1980's when it jumped into 42 amongst a selection of 1000 names in 2006. Not so popular in England and Scotland, it however became rated in the 25% in Canada and Ireland. People with the name Evan are looked upon as being masculine, wholesome, strong and natural.

CELEBRITY NAMESAKES:
Evan Eschmeyer ( May 30, 1975) - basketball player
Evan Farmer ( July 28, 1972)- actor/entertainer
Evan Mathis ( Nov. 1, 1981) - football player
Evan Oglesby ( Dec. 18, 1981)- football player
Evan Routzahn - football player
Evan Taubenfield ( Jan. 27, 1983) musician/performance artist
Evan Wood ( Sept. 7, 1987)- actress/entertainer
Evan S. Connell Jr. ( 1924-) - American writer
Evan hunter ( 1926-) - American writer
Evan Dando - Lead singer of the Lemonheads
Evan Lysacek - American figure skater, placed 4th in 2006 Olympics
Jett Evan is the child of Christopher Titus.
Evan Samuel is the child of Phil Mickelson.
Evan James is Bruce Springsteen's oldest son.

EVAN PLACES AND FACT/FUN INFORMATION:

Evan is such a popular name, the whole Evans County in Georgia named as many places as they could with Evan. There is the Claxton-Evans County Airport, Evans County Forestry Unit, plus a high school, lakes, a dam , Evans Memorial Hospital, and several churches. Besides Georgia, there is Evan, Minnesota.

Evan's Auto Repairs is located in St. Hubert, Quebec, Canada.
Not to mention the Evan Evans London Tours in England.
Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute.

The goalkeeper at the U.S. Naval Academy ( Dec. 20, 2007) is named Evan Barnes.
Evan Cornog is the new publisher of Columbia Journalism Review.

Along the lines of food and drink, Bob Evans Breakfast Sausages have become a household name.
Evan Williams Kentucky Bourbon is rated as a Best Buy with a rank of 90.

In the media world, Evan is popularized in JK Rowling's Harry Potter by calling a minor Death
Eater character Evan Rosier.
"The Word Detective" written by Evan Morris is also known as Dr. Grammar.
In the entertainment world, Evan Almighty ( 2007) starring Steve Carell as Evan Baxter of Bruce Almighty.
Evan Marriott stars on Joe Millionaire on Fox, is the potential love interest, bulldozer driver.

As mentioned before, Evan is to be found in high places, especially in the field of medicine. Dr. Evan Lehman is an obstetrician/gynecologist. Dr. Evan Davies is a general practitioner. Dr. Evan Ballard is a famous opthalmologist. Dr. Evan Rosen is the Assistant
Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Aspiring to greatness? Name your son or daughter Evan!

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