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I've been trying to trace the origin of my name through the internet for years, but all I find are French Canadian *men*, not a single female with my given name! The closest I've seen is an actress named Evan, but it is pronounced EH-van not ee-VAN as is mine. Here is the history of my name:
When I was born, my mother's friend (who was from England) suggested "Evan" pronouncing it "ee-VAN". She told my mother it was Welch. My mother didn't want people to call me "EH-van" so she changed the 'e' to 'y'. Now nobody knows how to pronounce my name! LOL! Anyway, I have tried to verify that it is Welch in origin, but have not seen any indication that the feminine pronunciation of Evan is different. Rather, I have seen many, many feminine forms of Evan (or John), but NONE of them are pronounced as is mine. The closest pronunciation is an Irish name "Eavan" pronounced "EE-van" but its etymology has nothing to do with a form of "John". I'm stumped...
Anyone here more knowledgeable or have a resource I could check?
www.tinidril.com
When I was born, my mother's friend (who was from England) suggested "Evan" pronouncing it "ee-VAN". She told my mother it was Welch. My mother didn't want people to call me "EH-van" so she changed the 'e' to 'y'. Now nobody knows how to pronounce my name! LOL! Anyway, I have tried to verify that it is Welch in origin, but have not seen any indication that the feminine pronunciation of Evan is different. Rather, I have seen many, many feminine forms of Evan (or John), but NONE of them are pronounced as is mine. The closest pronunciation is an Irish name "Eavan" pronounced "EE-van" but its etymology has nothing to do with a form of "John". I'm stumped...
Anyone here more knowledgeable or have a resource I could check?
www.tinidril.com
This message was edited 3/19/2005, 6:46 PM
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Replies
This is what I know about the name Yvan (whose original form is Ivan): is the russian variant to the latin name Juan (English John; Italian Giovanni; French Jean, etc.).
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The problem is that your mother's friend was wrong. The Welsh Evan is a male name and is pronounced EV-an (click here: Evan for details). There is no female Welsh name 'Evan', although the male name is occasionally used for girls in the US.
Your name, although it wasn't intended that way, is a made up name. There is no tradition of a name spelled Yvan and pronounced ee-VAN.
The closest is the French feminine name Yvonne (ee-VON), which means "yew", or, as you say, the Irish feminine name Eavan (EE-van) which means "beautiful sheen".
It's essentially up to you how you interpret the meaning of your name from here. The most logical conclusion would be to regard it as an American variation of Yvonne or an American feminine form of Evan.
Hope that helps!
PS - I had a look at your website :-) I'm a member of Tol Harndor, the Australasian smial of the Tolkien Society. Go LotR fans! :-D
♦ Chrisell ♦
All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us. - J.R.R. Tolkien.
Your name, although it wasn't intended that way, is a made up name. There is no tradition of a name spelled Yvan and pronounced ee-VAN.
The closest is the French feminine name Yvonne (ee-VON), which means "yew", or, as you say, the Irish feminine name Eavan (EE-van) which means "beautiful sheen".
It's essentially up to you how you interpret the meaning of your name from here. The most logical conclusion would be to regard it as an American variation of Yvonne or an American feminine form of Evan.
Hope that helps!
PS - I had a look at your website :-) I'm a member of Tol Harndor, the Australasian smial of the Tolkien Society. Go LotR fans! :-D
All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us. - J.R.R. Tolkien.
This message was edited 3/19/2005, 7:07 PM
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