Even
Masculine · “Norse ey and vindr”
Very few names are also ordinary English function words. True, Will, Grace, Hope and May are most of the list, and nearly all of them are Puritan virtue names. Even is not one of those: it is Norwegian, and the collision with the English word is an accident.
How old is the name Even?
Even first appears in US birth records in 1917 — 108 years ago. The typical Even alive today was born around 2006, making them about 19 years old. About 500 people named Even are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Even most popular?
Even peaked in 1922, reaching #3014 nationally. Today it ranks #9714, 6,700 places below that high. See the whole 1922 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Eivindr to Even
The story of Even
English function words almost never become names, and the exceptions have a specific history. The Puritan naming of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries produced virtue names, and most of them were nouns or adjectives: Faith, Hope, Grace, Prudence, Mercy, Patience, Temperance, Charity, Constant, Increase, Preserved. A handful of the more extreme are sentences. But adverbs and conjunctions are essentially absent, and for a good reason: a name has to be able to stand alone as a noun phrase, and a function word cannot. Even is a name only because Norwegian happens to produce that string from a completely different source. The same accident gives English speakers the Norwegian names Even, Ole and Bent, all of which look like ordinary English words and are not.
Meaningscholars disagree
Norse ey and vindr, island and winner
Even is a Norwegian name, a modern form of Eivind or Oyvind, generally explained from Norse elements meaning island or luck and winner or victor. It coincides exactly with the English adverb even, from Old English efen, level, which is unrelated. The American peak is 1922, in the Norwegian immigrant generation.
How the name formed
- Eivindr
- Eivind
- Even
Related forms: Even · Eivind · Evind
Pronouncing Even
EH-ven
Two syllables, stress on the first. Norwegian says the first vowel short. English readers say EE-ven, as the ordinary word.
Nicknames for Even
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1917
- Most boys named
- 200828 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3014reached in 1922
- Change vs 2024
- −46.2%7 in 2025, from 13
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Even in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Even in Norwegian — same name
- Eivind in Norwegian — related form
- Evind in Swedish — related form
Evens among us
people named Even are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 244,011 born in 2025 was named Even
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Even sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Even beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Even in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Four letters and two syllables, easy to say and spell.
- It is a standard name in Norway.
- Eivind is available as the fuller form.
- It is identical to a very common English word.
- Norwegian and English say the first vowel differently.
- The 1922 peak places it a century ago.
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Even
Masculine · #9714 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Evens are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 500 people named Even are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Even in 2025?
- Even ranks #9714 among US boy names in 2025, with 7 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Even?
- About 1 in every 244,011 US boys born in 2025 was named Even — 7 in all.
- Will my child share the name Even with classmates?
- Even will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Even
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Vern#9714 · Abrahm#9714 · Sid#9714 · Hartwell#9714 · Kwan#9714 · Adrean#9714 · Chancey#9714 · Bob#9714
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Even? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Even and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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