Helena

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Elena in AR Argentina, MX Mexico, ES Spain and 5 more, Елена in RU Russia, KZ Kazakhstan, BG Bulgaria and 1 more, Helen in US United States, AU Australia, PH Philippines and 1 more 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 9 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◐

Helena is also recorded as 5 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Swedish given name68K records spelled Helena8 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Iceland

  Languages: Swedish, Danish, Norwegian Bokmål

  Also written Heléna, Helená, Héléna

• a separate given name22K records spelled Helena8 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, Sweden, Spain

  Also written Heléna, Héléna, Helēna, Hélèna, Helèna

• Turkish given name3.3K records spelled Helena10 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Türkiye, United States, Spain, United Kingdom

  Languages: Turkish, Azerbaijani

  Also written Heléna, Hèlena, Helēna, Helèna, Hélena

• Thai given name1.8K records spelled Helena16 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Laos, Thailand, United States, Sweden

  Languages: Thai, Lao

  Also written เอเลน่า, เฮเลน่า, เอเลนา, เฮเลนา, Helenna

• Albanian given name1.3K records spelled Helena2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Albania, United States, Sweden, United Kingdom

  Also written Hélèna

86 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●

Helena 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.

• In Polish, a female given name from Latin [in turn from Ancient Greek], equivalent to English Helen

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

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

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

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

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

• In English, city, MT

  as a name·Pronouncing Dictionary of Proper Names

• In Dutch, a female given name, a Latinate variant of Heleen (=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) — 146 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●

• Helena Blavatskyb. 1831USRussian occult writer (1831-1891)
• Princess Helena of the United Kingdomb. 1846GBMember of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg (1846–1923)
• Cecilia Helena Payne Gaposchkinb. 1900USBritish-born American astronomer
• Maria Kaczyńskab. 1942PLnot in their usual nameFirst Lady of Poland (1942-2010)
• Princess Christina, Mrs. Magnusonb. 1943SEnot in their usual nameSwedish princess; elder sister of King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden
• Helena Sukováb. 1965CZCzech tennis player and psychologist
• Helena Bonham Carterb. 1966GBBritish actress (born 1966)
• Helena Christensenb. 1968DKDanish model and photographer
• Elena Paparizoub. 1982SEnot in their usual nameGreek singer
• Princess Eugenie of Yorkb. 1990GBnot in their usual nameyounger daughter of Andrew Mountbatten Windsor and Sarah Ferguson

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 · 1,654 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Helena?

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

In which country does Helena have the most bearers?

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

How common is Helena compared with other names?

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

Is Helena a male or female name?

Helena 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 Helena mean?

Recorded meaning: Latin form of Helen; used from time to time in Ireland.