NELSON EVANGELISTA

Transferred use of the surname, which originated in the Middle Ages as either a patronymic from Neil or a metronymic from Nell. Use as a given name probably began as a tribute to the British admiral Lord Nelson (1758–1805), the victor of the Battle of Trafalgar; see also Horatio. It is, however, now much more common in the United States than in Britain, its popularity there in the 1930s and 40s no doubt having been influenced by the American film actor and singer Nelson Eddy (1901–67). Nowadays the name is universally associated with the South African statesman Nelson Mandela (b. 1918).

Italian: from Evangelista ‘evangelist’ (a derivative of Greek euangelos ‘bringer of good news’, from eu ‘well’, ‘good’ + angelos ‘messenger’). This is the term used to denote any of the four gospel writers of the New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), in particular St. John the Evangelist.