The surname Evans and its variants Evans, Evins, Heaven and Heavens mean "son of Evan" or "Evan�s (son)", the final representing the genitive or possessive case. Evan, in turn, is the Welsh form of the personal name John derived through Latin Johannes from Hebrew Johonon "Jehovah has Favored". John was one of the most common Jewish names and was borne by the Baptist and an Evangelist.

In early Christian times its use was confined principally to the East, becoming popular in Western Europe only after the first Crusade, but eventually superseding William as the most common English Christian name. In Welsh, the form Evan dates only from the sixteenth century. Earlier forms being Tefan and Tfan and in Middle English Yevan and Jevan. In the days when communities were small a person was identified by a single name only but with the increase in population confusion arose and it became necessary to adopt an additional cognomen, which was coined from one of four sources; the name of an ancestor, a place, an occupation or some personal characteristic. Thus, a man named Henry whose father was Evan might be known as "Henry son of Evan" or Henry Evan�s (son)" in order to distinguish him from others of the same Christian name. In the course of time the cognomen became hereditary in what we now term surnames. Early records mention Heine filius (son of) Yevan who appears in the 1273 Hundred Rolls of Shropshire; Howell ap (son of) Yevanin the Rolls of Parliament; David ap Evan, in the Calendar of Proceedings in Chancery, Duringteh reign of Elizabeth I; And John Evans in the 1568 Subsidy Roll of Suffolk.

One of the first to come to American was John Evans (1654 - 1740). He came from Radnorshire, Wales, to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1695 and in 1711 settled in New Castle County, Delaware. His grandson Evan Evans was a Colonel at the Battle of Brandywine in 1777. Captain Jonathan Evans was an officer in a Massachusetts Regiment at the time if the Lexington Alarm, April 1775. Altogether, no less than thirty bearers of this name served as officers in the Revolutionary War.