Idwal Evans

This unusual name is of Welsh origin, composed of two separate elements which have their own distinct origins and derivations. The name "Idwal" is an ancient Welsh personal name, derived from the Old Welsh elements "id", lord, with "gwal", ruler; one of the most famous bearers of the name was Idwal Foel, (flourished 942 - 943), King of Gwynedd, and son of Anarawd ap Thodn Fawr. The name "Evans" is one of the patronymic forms of the Welsh "Ifan" of "Evan", from the male personal name "John ". This is from the Hebrew "Yockanan", translating as "Jehovah has favoured (me with a son)" or "may Jehovah favour (this child)". The given name has been very popular throughout Europe since early medieval times, and has generated a variety of surnames. The Welsh forms of Evans, Evens, Evins, and Heaven(s) appear only in the mid 16th Century, when most Welsh surnames were beginning to be formulated as hereditary names, as opposed to identifying patronymics. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John Evens, which was dated 1568, The Suffolk Subsidy Rolls, during the reign of Elizabeth 1, "Good Queen Bess", 1558 - 1603. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.