Helmut

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Helms in US United States, GB United Kingdom, CA Canada and 10 more, Гельмут in RU Russia, KZ Kazakhstan and Hel'Mut in LV Latvia.

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 3 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◐

Helmut is also recorded as 3 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Portuguese given name23K records spelled Helmut7 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Chile

  Languages: Portuguese, Spanish

  Also written Hel'Mut, Hélmut

• Polish given name17K records spelled Helmut18 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Poland, Czechia, Croatia, Slovakia

  Languages: Polish, Czech, Croatian

  Also written Hel'Mut, Хелмут

• Hungarian given name328 records spelled Helmut2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Slovenia, Hungary, Latvia, United States

  Also written Hel'Mut

46 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●

Helmut 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 German, ) Helmuth; Hellmut; Hell­ muth: männl. Vom., dessen Vergabe erst ab

  as a name·DUDEN Lexikon der Vornamen

• In Swedish, Helmut är ett tyskt namn, sammansatt av fornhögtyskt helm ’hjälm’ och muot ’sinne lag; själ’. En känd namnbärare är den förre tyske förbundskanslern Helmut Kohl (1930–2017).

  as a name·Förnamn i Sverige. Kortfattat namnlexikon

• Germanic: ‘sound mind’.

  as a name·A concise dictionary of first names

• Spirito della battaglia

  as a name·Il grande libro dei nomi per bebè. Significato, origini, curiosità. Oltre 7000 nomi per bambine e bambini Significato,…

• German: from an old Germanic personal name composed of the elements helm helmet, protection + muot spirit, courage. Although both these elements are well attested in other names from the earliest times, this particular combination does not seem to occur before the late Middle Ages. It continues to be an extremely popular and widespread German given name. Variant: Helmuth .

  as a word

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●

CL SRCEI — Nombres más comunes (guaguas, 1920–2021) — 88 years between 1923–2021. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Helmut Hasseb. 1898DEGerman mathematician (1898–1979)
• Helmut Käutnerb. 1908DEGerman film director and actor (1908–1980)
• Helmut Schönb. 1915DEGerman football player and coach (1915-1996)
• Helmut Dantineb. 1917USAustrian-American actor (1917–1982)
• Helmut Schmidtb. 1918DEChancellor of West Germany (1974–1982)
• Helmut Rahnb. 1929DEGerman association football player (1929–2003)
• Helmut Kohlb. 1930DEChancellor of West Germany and reunified Germany (1982–1998)
• Helmut Hallerb. 1939DEGerman footballer (1939–2012)
• Helmut Bergerb. 1944ATAustrian actor (1944–2023)
• Helmut Kremersb. 1949DEGerman footballer

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 · 430 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Helmut?

We estimate roughly 10 thousand people bear Helmut (counting its spellings and scripts) across 11 countries in our records.

In which country does Helmut have the most bearers?

Helmut is most frequently recorded in Germany, where it is most often spelled helmut.

How common is Helmut compared with other names?

In Germany, Helmut is the 31st most common given name of 154,506 given names recorded there.

Is Helmut a male or female name?

Helmut is recorded for both men and women. We don't publish a percentage split: a record's gender belongs to the person and is attached to every given name on that record, so names in cultures where a name string also carries a parent's or spouse's given name pick up large cross-gender counts.

What does the name Helmut mean?

Recorded meaning: a male given name, popular during the first half of the 20th century