Helge

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 5 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◐

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

• English given name7.3K records spelled Helge2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Norway, Australia, United Kingdom

  Also written Helgé

• Spanish given name1.7K records spelled Helge2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Spain, United States, Norway, Argentina

  Also written Helgé

• French given name771 records spelled Helge3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, Norway, Spain, United States

  Languages: French, Catalan

  Also written Helgé

• Hindi given name764 records spelled Helge3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Norway, United States, Finland

  Languages: Hindi, Urdu

  Also written Helgé

47 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●

Helge 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 Swedish, Helge är ett nordiskt namn, troligen ett ursprungligt binamn, bestämd form av helig (fornsvenskt helagher). Under hednisk tid kan namnet ha betytt ’vigd åt gudarna’. Oleg är en rysk form av Helge. I den rikssvenska almanackan 30 september och i den finlandssvenska 31 maj.

  as a name·Förnamn i Sverige. Kortfattat namnlexikon

• In English, Helgoland [Heligoland]

  as a name·Pronouncing Dictionary of Proper Names

• In English, island. North Sea

  as a name·Pronouncing Dictionary of Proper Names

• Scandinavian: from an early medieval personal name, a derivative of the adjective heilagr prosperous, successful (from Old Norse heill hale, hearty, happy). The word later developed the meaning ‘blessed, holy’, with the result that the name seemed a particularly suitable choice to give expression to pious hopes. Variant: Helje (Danish) .

  as a word

• In Swedish, The letter "H" in the Swedish spelling alphabet (since 1960; previously Harald)

  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●

NO SSB — Navn (1880–present) — 81 years between 1945–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Helge von Kochb. 1870SESwedish mathematician (1870-1924)
• Helge Aulebb. 1887DEGerman general (1887–1964)
• Helge Løvlandb. 1890NONorwegian athletics competitor (1890–1984)
• Helge Thiisb. 1897NONorwegian architect (1897–1972)
• Helge Ingstadb. 1899NONorwegian explorer (1899–2001)
• Helge Kraghb. 1944DKDanish naturalist, physicist, chemist and historian
• Helge Schneiderb. 1955DEGerman entertainer
• Ingar Helge Gimleb. 1956NONorwegian actor
• Helge Braunb. 1972DEGerman politician
• Helge Limburgb. 1982DEGerman politician

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 · 268 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Helge?

We estimate roughly 24 thousand people bear Helge (counting its spellings and scripts) across 12 countries in our records.

In which country does Helge have the most bearers?

We estimate about 10 thousand people bear Helge in Norway, more than in any other country in our records, where it is most often spelled helge.

Where is Helge most common?

Helge is densest in Norway, where the national register counts about 1 in 523 people carrying it.

How common is Helge compared with other names?

In Norway, Helge is the 88th most common given name of 38,312 given names recorded there.

Is Helge a male or female name?

Helge is a male 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 Helge mean?

Recorded meaning: to hallow, sanctify