Lena

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 23 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◐

Lena is also recorded as 8 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• French given name438K records spelled Lena6 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, Brazil, United States, Argentina

  Languages: French, Portuguese, Spanish

  Also written Léna, Léñá

• a separate given name24K records spelled Lena7 spellings in the group

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

  Also written Léna, Lēn̲ā, Leña, Lená, Lēna

• Indonesian surname24K records spelled Lena25 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Philippines, Indonesia, United States, Spain

  Languages: Indonesian, Spanish, English

  Also written Llena, Léna, Leña, Llënâ, Ĺena

• Italian given name12K records spelled Lena7 spellings in the group

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

  Also written Léna, Lèna, Leňa, Leña, Léňa

• Catalan given name2.4K records spelled Lena3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Spain

  Also written Leña, Léna

• a separate given name2.4K records spelled Lena8 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Norway, United States, Sweden, Canada

  Also written Léna, Lęnã, Lēňa, Lèna, Lĕnă

• Albanian given name2.3K records spelled Lena3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Albania, United States, Sweden, Italy

  Also written Léna, Léñâ

• Lithuanian given name970 records spelled Lena4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Lithuania, United States, Latvia, Russia

  Languages: Lithuanian, Latvian

  Also written Lėna, Ļena

66 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●

Lena 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.

• Pet form of YELENA. Leonid $ From Greek Leénidas, the name of a Spartan hero who was named after his grandfather Leon ‘lion’. Later the name was borne by two early saints venerated in the Eastern Church.

  as a name·A concise dictionary of first names

• In Italian, from the female personal name Lena, a short form of Maddalena or Helena.

  as a name·Dictionary of American Family Names

• In Italian, habitational name from a place called Lena in Asturies.

  as a name·Dictionary of American Family Names

• In German, a female given name, variant of Magdalena or Helena, popular in the 1990s

  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)

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●

• Lena Horneb. 1917USAmerican singer, actress, dancer and activist (1917–2010)
• Lena Nymanb. 1944SESwedish actress (1944–2011)
• Lena Olinb. 1955SESwedish stage actress, film actress, beauty pageant contestant, actress (1955–)
• Lena Headeyb. 1973GBBritish actress (born 1973)
• Lena Hallb. 1980USAmerican actress
• Lena Raineb. 1984USAmerican composer and producer (born 1984)
• Anna-Lena Grönefeldb. 1985DEGerman tennis player
• Lena Dunhamb. 1986USAmerican writer, director, actress, and producer (born 1986)
• Lena Meyer-Landrutb. 1991DEGerman singer (born 1991)
• Lena Paulb. 1993USAmerican pornographic actress

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 · 1,308 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Lena?

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

In which country does Lena have the most bearers?

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

How common is Lena compared with other names?

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

Is Lena a male or female name?

Lena 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 Lena mean?

Recorded meaning: Short form of Helena, Magdalena, Caroline, etc.; used independently.