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Aveline, the Old French form of Avelina, was brought over to Britain by the Normans with whom it had a long history of use. Avelina of Longeville was the sister of Gunnor, wife of Richard I of Normandy and great-grandmother of William the Conqueror.
The name was not very popular in Britain over all, but it was used regularly across the Middle Ages. Records include instances of Avelina, Avelin, Avelyna and Avelyn in the Curia Regis Rolls of 1189, 1200, 1273 and 1430, and the Norfolk Poll Tax of 1379. It was certainly used enough times to create the surname Aveline, Aveling and, in some cases, Evelyn.
The Normans also took Aveline over to Ireland where it was borne by many aristocratic Norman-Irish ladies, such as Aveline FitzJohn FitzGeoffrey, wife of Walter de Burgh, 1st Earl of Ulster (c. 1230–1271) and her granddaughter, Aveline de Burgh (b. c. 1280), daughter of the Red Earl of Ulster.
Aibhilín/Eibhilín were used as Irish Gaelic forms by at least the 16th century, and there are several examples of women bearing the name in the Irish Annals dating from 1498 to 1583. According to Donnchadh Ó Corráin and Fidelma Maguire*, "As Eibhlín the name achieved great popularity."
The name was re-translated into English from the 17th century in a variety of forms – though ironically not the original Aveline/Avelina/Evelina itself. Eileen, Aileen and Eveleen were used a phonetic English spellings (Ó Corráin & Maguire give the both the pronunciation of EYE-leen and EV-leen for Eibhlín) but it was also 'translated' into English as Helen, Ellen and Ellie to "such an extent," K.M. Sheard* argues, "that some believe it derives from one of these. Linguistically, however, it is clear the origin is Avelina."
A famous namesake was Irish noblewoman and poet, Eibhlín Dubh Ní Chonaill (c.1743–c.1800), known as Eileen O'Connell in English, who composed, Caoineadh Airt Uí Laoghaire, regarded as one of the greatest laments in history.
 Despite its popularity in Ireland, it was initially slow to catch on in Britain until the mid-19th century, alongside the likes of Kathleen, Gladys and Brenda, when native Celtic names saw a revival.
Data from the 1881 census shows that, despite their shared Gaelic heritage, Eileen/Aileen initially didn't have much of a foothold in Scotland and saw more use in England.
Birth records in England and Wales for Eileen/Aileen:
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Eileen |
Aileen |
1840s:
1850s:
1860s:
1870s:
1880s:
1890s:
1900s:
1910s: |
2 births
6 births
16 births
70 births
377 births
2158 births
11595 births
34822 births
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4 births
2 births
11 births
43 births
108 births
433 births
995 births
1028 births
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 By 1890, Eileen ranked #199 and was #114 in 1900. Four years later, in 1904, it had shot up to #70 and rose even further to #27 in 1914, and peaking at #10 in 1924.
After that time, it began to decline, leaving the top 100 by 1964. The spelling Aileen never ranked in the top 100 of England and Wales.
By 1996, both Eileen and Aileen have ranked below the top 1000. Eileen has consistently fluctuated with between 13 and 28 births per year; for Aileen its between 4 to 12 births.
In 2016, Eileen ranked #1211 with 28 births and Aileen ranked #2367 with 11 births.
 On the other hand, both Eileen and Aileen saw success in Scotland, but a little later than in England. In 1900, neither spelling ranked in the Scottish top 100, but by 1950, Eileen was #33 and Aileen was #72. By 1974, Aileen was still hanging on at #85 while Eileen had just fallen out to #104.
From that point, both Eileen and Aileen saw a steady decline in Scotland. In 2017, Eileen and Aileen ranked both #1537 with 1 birth each.
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