The Evans name has been well-known in Great Britian and the United States for centuries. It comes from the Welsh for John or Son of John, it was first used as "Jevon" and "Yeva" and eventually "Evan". Evans means 'son of Evan'. The Welsh form of the name in Scottish is 'Ewan', from the Celtic. In Dutch or Flemish language, it is "Evens". The coat of arms shown above is displayed by titled persons or persons of royal blood and their descendants, and is described in Burke's General Armory, Burke's Landed Gentry, Burke's Peerage and Baronetage and many other good works on heraldry. There is a chevron with three boars heads on a silver shield, under a larger boars head. The family slogan "Pro-Patria" means "For my country".

Members of the Evans family emigrated from Great Britian to the colonies in the 17th and 18th centuries A.D., settling in New England, Pennsylvania (some were members of the Society of Friends or Quakers), and some Evans settled in Virginia. Among the descendants of the some Virginian Evans, David Evans and Mary Jones, may have been David Evans, born about 1760 in Boutetort County, Va., who married Sarah Greer about 1780, and they had eight children- Nathaniel, born July 27, 1785, James, Martha, Keziah, Jacob, John, Elizabeth and George, all born between 1781 and 1809. David moved his family to Lincoln County, Kentucky in 1785, and was one of the earliest settlers in the Kentucky territory. That part of the state later became Mercer County, Ky. About 1795, the family of Thomas Stearn Hedger moved to the area and became close neighbors of the Evans. Nathaniel Evans knew his neighbors' daughter Lucy Hedger, from the time they were both children, and they married on Sept. 6, 1814 in Mercer County, and had a large family of eleven children- Sarah Evans was born in 1824 after the family had moved to Parke County, Indiana. Her siblings were William, Thomas, Mary Ann, all born in Mercer County, Kentucky between 1815 and 1818, Nathaniel Hedger, Harriet, David, Nancy, John R, James and Milton, all born in Parke County, Indiana between 1819 and 1830. Sarah married George Perry Abernathy on Feb. 1, 1844 in Parke County, Indiana. George and Sarah had a son, John, on Oct. 19, 1846 in Logan County, Illinois. They had another son, Milton in 1849, but both mother and son died that year, and George later remarried to Elizabeth Griggs and had a large second family.

There are many famous Evans throughout history. Among them is Mary Ann Evans (1819-1880), who wrote under the pseudonym of George Eliot, such classics as Silas Marner, The Mill on the Floss and Adam Bede. Walker Evans (1903-1975) was a famous photographer who photographed New York City in 1927, and in 1936, while working for Fortune Magazine, went into rural Alabama and later co-wrote the book "Let Us Now Praise Famous Men" which helped chronicle Roosevelt's New Deal. Dale Evans, late wife of the famous cowboy film star Roy Rogers was not born an Evans, but her birth name was Francis Octavia Smith. Robert Evans is a famous Hollywood producer and actor who recently wrote his biography, The Kid Stays in the Picture. David Howell Evans is a guitarist for the band U-2, Daniel Evans is a former U.S. Senator and Governor from the state of Washington. Chris Evans is a well-known radio and TV personality. In New Orleans is 'Evans Famous Creole Candies' a world famous Creole candy store started by Andre Dulac-Evans, about the beginning of the twentieth century. In sports, Mike Evans was the coach of the Denver Nuggets, and Leomont Evans was a former player for the Washington Redskins football team. On a sad note, Josh Evans, the tiny 20 year old actor on the soap opera Passions, passed away during a medical procedure on August 6, 2002. Linda Evans is a well known actress who starred in the TV series "The Big Valley" and "Dynasty." Faith Evans is an actress who has appeared in American History X, Tollbooth and Valmont. Maurice Evans (1901-1989) was a famous British Shakespearean stage and film actor. Greg Evans is a cartoonist who draws the very popular comic strip "Luann".