Everett

Everett is an English surname that became a given name. It derives from the Old English personal name Eoforheard, formed from eofor, meaning boar, and heard, meaning hardy or brave; standard name dictionaries usually gloss it as brave boar or hardy boar. The name came into English use through this surname rather than through a biblical figure or saint, and its meaning is taken from those two Old English elements.

The best-known bearer of the name is Everett Rogers (1931–2004), the American communication theorist who developed the diffusion of innovations theory and introduced the term early adopter. Everett is also the name of a city in Washington state, north of Seattle, and remains a familiar English surname.

In the United States, Everett ranked 77th in 2025, its highest rank and its largest annual count, with 4,287 babies. The name had fallen as low as 649th and has risen steeply since, returning to the top 100 and continuing to climb. The rise is a notable reversal for a name that had slipped far from its early-twentieth-century standing.