Is Evan too Welsh?

[Blue2022]

My baby is already a few months old. I don't know if I'm suffering from a bit of baby blues/PND but I seem to be obsessively over-analysing his name for the past few weeks. I suspect it is as we chose the name when we first found out I was pregnant (I loved one other name but DH didn't) and only now am I having a wobble about it.
His name is Evan.
We have no Welsh heritage at all and I think this is my main worry. Would you assume that we did? I feel like you can get away with it with other names that aren't English origin (i'm thinking Sienna and Sophia as examples) but this one isn't that common so I feel as though people might find it weird. I know it is quite a common name in the US, so it's more normal there. Thoughts? I don't want to change it because we like the name still but these intrusive thoughts are affecting me, so would appreciate honest views from others.
We chose it mainly because we liked the way it sounded and it being another version of 'John'

[Bettethebuilder]

I think it’s fine. I know someone with an Evan and they aren’t Welsh either. I would consider Sienna and Sophia to be thoroughly English names, though.

[AllPlayedOut]

I would consider Sienna and Sophia to be thoroughly English names, though.

Italian surely?

[SycamoreTall]

Completely fine. If you'd gone for Ifan I might think you were Welsh, but not Evan - it's too widely used to seem exclusively Welsh.

[Blue2022]

@Bettethebuilder thank you for your thoughts. That's what I mean with those names.. they've become very accepted as English names, even though their origins are not English.

[RockingMyFiftiesNot]

I think it's quite usual to have a wobble over baby names even a few months in. Please don't worry about Evan, it's a lovely name and whilst most people will know that it's Welsh, I can't imagine anyone thinking it's wrong to use it if you're not Welsh. Think about it the other way round: many, many Welsh people will have names that originated in England and no-one cares!

[Fivebeanchilli]

I love Evan.
I think it's definitely a name that you can get away with using with no Welsh heritage.

[Luluuuuuuuuuu85]

I think it's fine, lots of names have crossed over and have universal appeal which are similar to Evan- Erin for example. Enjoy your baby ❤️

[Pennox]

I think it's fine too. There are lots of Dylans around with no Welsh heritage.

Evan and Dylan are on a par for me.

[KirstenBlest]

Evan is an anglicised form of Ifan, so no, it is not too Welsh.
It's nice.

I only know one Evan, he's an adult and has no Welsh heritage as far as I know.

[withacherryonthetop]

I love Evan. In welsh it would be Efan and there is also Ifan. So spelt with a v (there is no v in the welsh language) I wouldn’t see it as welsh

[Bettethebuilder]

@AllPlayedOut

I would consider Sienna and Sophia to be thoroughly English names, though.

Italian surely?

No, neither is Italian. There’s an Italian city called Siena, and Sophia is Greek in origin, but used in the U.K. for centuries. The Italian is Sofia.

[KylieCharlene]

I love Evan and know of one teenage English Evan.
Working with children I have seen many children with names that I suppose aren't 'English' but I've never given this a thought- until your post- and I'm pretty sure no one else gives it a thought either.
-Owen ( very popular)
-Rhianna

• Bronwyn
• Xavier
• Natalia
• Leonie
• Patrick
• Maria
• Clayton

[KirstenBlest]

Efan is less popular than Ifan. in both, the f has a v sound.

Bronwyn is awful, it's Bronwen

[Twizbe]

I think you know that these thoughts are symptoms of the baby blues / PND.

If it helps though, Evan is a lovely name. My daughter is called Cerys and my husband was worried we weren't welsh enough to use it. I was born in wales but we moved to England when I was 6 months old. It's not a huge welsh connection. We loved the name though and it fits her so well.

[SabrePrattler]

I really like the name Evan. I know it's of Welsh origin but I think because it was/is so popular in America it's definitely gone mainstream at this stage. It's not like calling him Dafydd.

[Mwnci123]

I like Evan- it's a lovely name. I wouldn't personally have used it as I am Welsh and the v would make it not Welsh enough for me. I wouldn't think twice about an English family using it.

Intrusive thoughts are a pain. If they are upsetting you it maybe be worth looking for a bit of CBT. All the best x

[GreatCuppa]

Evan is a lovely name. It wouldn’t occur to me to think you were Welsh or English or anything else to be honest.

[TheWayoftheLeaf]

@AllPlayedOut

I would consider Sienna and Sophia to be thoroughly English names, though.

Italian surely?

Sophia is Greek

[User6761]

Evan's a great name and one we considered (and we have no Welsh links).

[Icansleep]

I'm welsh and wouldn't give it a second thought if you were welsh or not 🙂 Congrats on your little one!

[Blue2022]

@Luluuuuuuuuuu85 uu85 funnily enough, we were going to use Erin if he had been a girl! Wonder if I'd have had the same wobble about that. When I was pregnant it never even occurred to me that this might be a problem I'd feel.
@Twizbe Cerys is a lovely name and has made me realise that I know one and I don't think they have any connections either!

Thank you all. I do feel like it is all in my head due to postnatal hormones, but I'm glad I made this thread. There's only so many times I can bring it up with my family, and it helps to gather opinions of strangers, as I know they can be more honest. I knew it could go either way so I'm feeling happier that I've had positive responses about it. It feels like such a big decision and a big weight naming a child that I was worried I hadn't put enough thought into it. Most importantly we both love the name and hope he does too!

[pamshortsbrokenbothherlegs]

The only Evan I know has an English mum and an Irish dad. I also grew up with a few non-Welsh Evans in North America. I wouldn't think twice about it OP.

Funnily enough, my DD has a Welsh name and only a little Welsh heritage - one of her grandparents is from and lives in Wales. I did wonder if it was a bit strange to use it, but in the end I figured it was one of those "stealth Welsh" names wherein the casual observer (not a name geek!) might not even know its origins. Similar to Evan.

[Luredbyapomegranate]

It’s fine, I know a toddler Irish Evan

It came in as a general use name same time as Ethan. E names are still very fashionable. No one would think anything of it.

[Blue2022]

@KylieCharlene

I love Evan and know of one teenage English Evan.
Working with children I have seen many children with names that I suppose aren't 'English' but I've never given this a thought- until your post- and I'm pretty sure no one else gives it a thought either.
-Owen ( very popular)
-Rhianna

• Bronwyn
• Xavier
• Natalia
• Leonie
• Patrick
• Maria
• Clayton

I didn't give it a thought either (I knew it was Welsh before we settled on it) but I've seen a couple of comments on threads saying 'I would only use it if I was Welsh' - specifically about the name Dylan once and Evan once. So it made me realise that it does matter to some😔 I shouldn't be so easily influenced I guess. Good to know it's not the majority opinion.

[Mwnci123]

My issue with Dylan is that the English pronunciation is very different to the original and I find that a bit grating. Even then, it only really gets on my nerves in Wales itself, though I curse Robert Zimmerman for popularising the mangled pronunciation. Not applicable to Evan though.