Evelina (given name)

Evelina is a feminine given name, likely stemming from the Old Germanic name of Avelina. The presently more common name Evelyn is presumed to stem from Evelina. During the Norman Conquest the name Aveline was introduced to Britain, and became popular during the 12th and 13th centuries. The name accumulated many variations, resulting in the creation of surnames such as Aveling, Eveling, Eveline, Aveline, etc. with the name Evelyn believed to have first been a masculine name derived from one of those surnames.

In the 18th century an English trend of preferring the latin form of women's names lead the authour Fanny Burney to name the titular character of her 1778 novel "Evelina". The popularity of the book lead to Evelina becoming the most common version of the name up till the present day.

Notable people with the name include:

People

• Evelina (singer), Finnish singer and songwriter Eveliina Tammenlaakso (born 1995)
• Evelina Borea (born 1931), Italian art historian, author and curator
• Evelina Fernandez, American playwright and actress
• Evelina Haverfield (1867–1920), British suffragette and aid worker
• Evelina Kos (born 1996), Slovenian footballer
• Evi Maltagliati (1908–1986), Italian stage, television and film actress
• Evelina Papantoniou (born 1979), Greek fashion model, actress and 2001 Miss Universe runner-up
• Evelina Papoulia (born 1971), Greek actress and dancer
• Evelina Petrova (born 1974), Russian composer and accordion player
• Evelina Puzaitė (born 1982), Lithuanian classical pianist, composer and writer
• Evelina Raselli (born 1992), Swedish ice hockey player
• Evelina de Rothschild (1839–1866), English socialite
• Evelina Samuelsson (born 1984), Swedish ice hockey player
• Evelina Stading (1803–1829), Swedish landscape painter
• Evelina Tshabalala (born 1965), South African marathon runner and mountaineer
• Evelina Tsvetanova (born 1974), Bulgarian former volleyball player
• Evelina Vorontsova (born 1972), Russian/Dutch concert pianist and pedagogue

Fictional characters

• Evelina Anville, title character of the 1778 novel Evelina
• a main character in the 1788 opera Arvire et Évélina

See also

• Evalina, a genus of sea snails
• Eveline (given name)

References

1. Withycombe, E.G., comp. (1950) The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names 2nd ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 113,