Evander
Of Greek origin, meaning "strong man" or "good man".
Name Census estimates that about 3,515 living Americans carry the first name Evander. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Evander today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Evander births was 2021 (330 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Evander. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Evander with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Evander is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 14 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
3.5K
~ 1 in 97,512 Americans
Peak year
2021
330 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#771
Tracked since 1888
Census
Evander in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,887 people with the first name Evander, which placed it at #7,867 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#7,867
National first-name rank
People counted
1.9K
1,887 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
41.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Evander
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Evander is White at 41.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (22.5%) and Black (19.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Evander described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Evander at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White41.7% · 787
- Hispanic or Latino22.5% · 425
- Black or African American19.3% · 364
- Two or more races9.4% · 177
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.9% · 73
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.2% · 61
Popularity
Evander: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Evander from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 1,478 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Evander by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Evander during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Evanders live
The SSA's state-level files cover 34 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Evander, while Idaho, Iowa, Nebraska recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 58 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Evander
The name Evander originates from the Greek language, derived from the words "evandros" or "euandros," meaning "good man" or "well-man." It is a combination of the Greek elements "eu" (good) and "aner" (man). The name dates back to ancient Greek mythology and was popularized during the classical antiquity period.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Evander can be found in Virgil's epic poem, the Aeneid. In the work, Evander is depicted as a legendary king of Arcadia, who welcomed the Trojan prince Aeneas to Italy and allied with him against the Latins. This literary appearance of the name contributed to its recognition and subsequent use throughout the Roman Empire.
The earliest recorded individual known to bear the name Evander was Evander of Crete, a Greek mathematician and philosopher who lived in the late 4th century BC. He is credited with introducing the study of mathematics to Rome and is considered one of the earliest mathematicians to write in Latin.
In the 2nd century AD, Evander was also the name of a Christian martyr from Pamphylia, who was tortured and executed during the reign of Emperor Marcus Aurelius for refusing to renounce his faith. Saint Evander's martyrdom is commemorated in the Roman Martyrology, further solidifying the name's association with early Christianity.
During the Renaissance period, Evander emerged as a popular name among humanists and scholars, who were inspired by its classical roots. One notable figure was Evander Digby (1550-1618), an English Catholic priest and writer who authored several religious works and was involved in the Gunpowder Plot of 1605.
Another significant historical figure bearing the name Evander was Evander Holyoke (1723-1824), an American physician and educator who served as the president of Harvard University from 1737 to 1769. He was known for his contributions to the medical field and for his role in shaping the university's curriculum.
Evander Syme (1795-1875) was a Scottish journalist and publisher who founded the influential Colburn's New Monthly Magazine, which published works by notable authors such as Charles Dickens and William Makepeace Thackeray.
Evander Holyfield (born 1962) is a famous American professional boxer who competed from 1984 to 2011. He is a former undisputed heavyweight champion and is widely regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time, known for his remarkable resilience and tenacity in the ring.
People
Evander + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Evander as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with E
Other first names starting with E with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Evander: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Evander?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,515 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Evander going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 97,512 US residents.
Is Evander a common name?
We classify Evander as "Rare". It ranks above 95.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,808 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Evander most popular?
The single biggest year for Evander was 2021, when 330 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Evander is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Evander in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,887 people with the name Evander, or 0.62 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,867 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Evander in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Evander?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Evander appears almost entirely male. Of the 1,891 people counted with this name, 99.5% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Evander?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Evander is White at 41.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (22.5%) and Black (19.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Evander most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Evander in the 2020 Census, accounting for 41.7% (787 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Evander in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Evander a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Evander in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Evander still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Evander in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Evander can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people share the name Evander?
You can see how many people have the name Evander on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.