Hellen

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 Helena in BR Brazil, PL Poland, NL Netherlands.

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 22 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◐

Hellen is also recorded as 6 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• English given name108K records spelled Hellen7 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Brazil, United States, Nigeria, Costa Rica

  Languages: English, Dutch, Western Frisian

  Also written Hellén, Héllen

• a separate given name3.3K records spelled Hellen3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Kenya, United Kingdom, Canada

  Also written Hellén, Héllen

• Indonesian given name3.3K records spelled Hellen4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Indonesia, Malaysia, Tanzania, United States

  Languages: Indonesian, Malay

  Also written Hellén, Héllen

• German given name2.6K records spelled Hellen3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Germany, United States, South Africa, Austria

  Also written Hellén, Héllen

• French given name2.1K records spelled Hellen8 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, Spain, United States, South Africa

  Languages: French, Catalan

  Also written Helleñ, Héllèn, Héllen, Héllén, Hellén

• Danish given name1.7K records spelled Hellen5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Norway, Denmark, United States, Iceland

  Languages: Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian

  Also written Hellén

49 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●

Hellen 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 English, the mythological patriarch of the Hellenes, the son of Deucalion (or sometimes Zeus) and Pyrrha, brother of Amphictyon and father of Aeolus, Xuthus, and Dorus

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

• In English, eponymous hero of the Greeks

  as a name·Pronouncing Dictionary of Proper Names

• In Latin, Hellen (mythological patriarch of the Greeks)

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

• In Norwegian Bokmål, definite masculine singular of helle

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

• In Luxembourgish, inflection of hell:

  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) — 142 years between 1883–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Hellen M. Brooksb. 1862USAmerican politician and teacher
• Hellen Ferrob. 1919ARArgentinian journalist (1919-2011)
• Hellen Chepngenob. 1967KEKenyan distance runner
• Hellen van Meeneb. 1972NLDutch photographer (born 1972)
• Hellen Balekeb. 1985UGUgandan Boxer
• Hellen Obirib. 1989KEKenyan middle-distance runner
• Hellen Mubangab. 1995ZMZambian association football player
• Hellen Escobarb. 1999Colombian weightlifter
• Enado OdigieNGnot in their usual nameNigerian actress
• Hellen MardagaBEtheologian

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 · 534 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Hellen?

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

In which country does Hellen have the most bearers?

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

How common is Hellen compared with other names?

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

Is Hellen a male or female name?

Hellen 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 Hellen mean?

Recorded meaning: Variant of Helen; Greek 'torch; shining one'.