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I've just discovered that the masculine pronunciation of Evelyn eve-il-in. How did the name become feminine, and why is the masculine and feminine pronunciations different?
The moral of Pete's story is: No matter what you step in, keep walking along and singing your song... because it's all good.
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Evelyn was originally feminine - it's a matronymic surname, a medieval form of Aveline. Eventually it only survived as a surname, and family surnames were traditionally given to boys as given names. The same thing happens with names such as Avery, Emmett, Wyatt, Winston, Eliot - old English names that only survived as surnames, and then became given names again thanks to the practice in English-speaking countries of using surnames as given names.
Very often, the names "switched gender" because people are unaware of its etymological origins (such as Emmett being a nickname for Emma, or Evelyn being the same as Aveline).
As for the pronunciation - it seems to me that Eve-lyn is the traditionall pronunciation, and Ev-a-lyn may be inspired by the names Eveline and Evelina.
Very often, the names "switched gender" because people are unaware of its etymological origins (such as Emmett being a nickname for Emma, or Evelyn being the same as Aveline).
As for the pronunciation - it seems to me that Eve-lyn is the traditionall pronunciation, and Ev-a-lyn may be inspired by the names Eveline and Evelina.
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Hi !!!!
I don't know how it is pronounce...
I know that it is also masculine (and this is fascinating)...
I pronounce it: EH-veh-leen...
It is a strange pronounce I know but I had a Colombian classmate with this name and she pronounced it in this way.
Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
I don't know how it is pronounce...
I know that it is also masculine (and this is fascinating)...
I pronounce it: EH-veh-leen...
It is a strange pronounce I know but I had a Colombian classmate with this name and she pronounced it in this way.
Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
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I don't know how the name became feminine, but I could guess why the pronunciations are different?
It's only a guess but I could suggest that maybe the name was originally pronounced eve-il-lin and was later contracted. Many English words have lost an unstressed syllable like that. Words ending in -ed, like "braked" for example, would be pronounced "bray-ked" rather than "braykd".
Probably Evelyn was contracted first to something like eve-uh-lin and then eve-lin. If the contraction happened around the same time as the name became feminine, it's possible that all the young girls were being called "eve-lin" by their young parents with (for lack of a better word) "young" accents, while the older man were called eve-il-lin because, being older, they had either not incorporated the pronunciation change or felt disinclined to change the way they'd been saying their own name for years.
Maybe?
It's only a guess but I could suggest that maybe the name was originally pronounced eve-il-lin and was later contracted. Many English words have lost an unstressed syllable like that. Words ending in -ed, like "braked" for example, would be pronounced "bray-ked" rather than "braykd".
Probably Evelyn was contracted first to something like eve-uh-lin and then eve-lin. If the contraction happened around the same time as the name became feminine, it's possible that all the young girls were being called "eve-lin" by their young parents with (for lack of a better word) "young" accents, while the older man were called eve-il-lin because, being older, they had either not incorporated the pronunciation change or felt disinclined to change the way they'd been saying their own name for years.
Maybe?
This message was edited 3/14/2016, 11:50 PM
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More simply, EEv-lin may be the received pronunciation which developed through continuous use within families. The common modern pronunciation of the feminine name is more likely simply how people who see it written without context assume the name was used and pronounced.
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