Elena

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Елена in RU Russia, KZ Kazakhstan, BG Bulgaria and 1 more, Helen in US United States, AU Australia, PH Philippines and 1 more, Helena in BR Brazil, PL Poland, NL Netherlands and Олена in UA Ukraine.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 15 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Elena is also recorded as 4 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• English given name2.1M records spelled Elena41 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Romania, United States, Germany, Italy

  Languages: English, German, Dutch

  Also written Eléna, Elèna, Éléna, E'Lena, E-Lena

• Hungarian given name1.7M records spelled Elena6 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Romania, Slovenia, Hungary, Russia

  Also written Eléna, Éléna, Elenâ, Èlena, Èléna

• a separate given name148K records spelled Elena8 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Russia, Spain, Italy

  Also written Éléna, Eléna, Élena, Èlena, Elen̲ā

• Indonesian given name17K records spelled Elena7 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Indonesia, Philippines, United States, Spain

  Languages: Indonesian, Malay

  Also written 'Elena, Eléna, Ëlena, Ëlênã, Éléna

108 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Elena is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• From Greek: See )\Helen in main dictionary. - Cipriano ¢ From Latin Cypridnos ‘person from Cyprus’.

  as a name·A concise dictionary of first names

• Italian and Spanish form of Helen, now © sometimes also used in the Englishspeaking world.

  as a name·A concise dictionary of first names

• From Greek. See (Helen in main dictionary.

  as a name·A concise dictionary of first names

• In English, A female given name from Italian, Spanish, or Ancient Greek.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In Portuguese, a female given name, equivalent to English Helen

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 144 years between 1880–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Elena Ceaușescub. 1919RORomanian politician (1919–1989)
• Elena Kaganb. 1960USAssociate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States since 2010
• Nadia Comănecib. 1961ROnot in their usual nameRomanian gymnast and five-time Olympic gold medalist (born 1961)
• Laura Harringb. 1964MXnot in their usual nameMexican actress and Miss USA 1985
• Virginia Raggib. 1978ITnot in their usual nameItalian politician (1978)
• Jelena Jankovićb. 1985RSnot in their usual nameSerbian tennis player
• Innab. 1986ROnot in their usual nameRomanian singer and songwriter
• Ellie Gouldingb. 1986GBnot in their usual nameEnglish singer and songwriter (born 1986)
• Gigi Hadidb. 1995USnot in their usual nameAmerican fashion model and television personality (born 1995)
• Elena Rybakinab. 1999RUKazakhstani tennis player

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 1,621 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Elena?

We estimate roughly 2.3 million people bear Elena (counting its spellings and scripts) across 13 countries in our records.

In which country does Elena have the most bearers?

Elena is most frequently recorded in Russia, where it is most often spelled елена.

How common is Elena compared with other names?

In Russia, Elena is the 2nd most common given name of 418,751 given names recorded there.

Is Elena a male or female name?

Elena is a female name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Elena mean?

Recorded meaning: Greek Helénē 'torch', 'bright, shining'; from PIE *swel- 'burn'.