Evans is a male name and

surname In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community. Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name ...

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

, and possibly Cornish, origin. Within

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

it is the fifth most common surname and is the tenth most common in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Within the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, it is ranked as the 48th-most common surname. The male name Evans in Greek is Evangelos.

Origin

Evans is of

origin. In its

anglicised Anglicisation is the process by which a place or person becomes influenced by English culture or British culture, or a process of cultural and/or linguistic change in which something non-English becomes English. It can also refer to the influen ...

form, the name means "son of Evan". Regarding its Welsh roots, it is a derivative of the name ''Ifan'', a

cognate In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words in different languages that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymology, etymological ancestor in a proto-language, common parent language. Because language c ...

of John. In the

Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic language family, Celtic language of the Brittonic languages, Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut P ...

, 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 Bevan is a name of Welsh origin, derived from ab Ifan meaning "son of Evan" (Ifan being a variant of Ieuan, the Welsh equivalent of John). Notable people with the name include: First name * Bevan Congdon (1938–2018), New Zealand cricketer *Beva ...

", 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

* See

List of people with surname Evans A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * SC Germania List, German rugby union ...

References

{{reflist English-language surnames Surnames of Welsh origin Anglo-Cornish surnames Anglicised Welsh-language surnames Welsh-language surnames Patronymic surnames