# Helena (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/helena/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | girls |
| Origin | Greek |
| Meaning | not recorded |
| Pronunciation | /ˈhɛlənə/, 3 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 40,412 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 0 / 40,412 (100% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 5,201, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

A Latinate form of Helen, borrowed from Latin Helena.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 491 | 588 |
| 2012 | 529 | 558 |
| 2013 | 543 | 548 |
| 2014 | 627 | 498 |
| 2015 | 583 | 535 |
| 2016 | 602 | 517 |
| 2017 | 610 | 515 |
| 2018 | 689 | 458 |
| 2019 | 658 | 475 |
| 2020 | 593 | 512 |
| 2021 | 604 | 513 |
| 2022 | 675 | 471 |
| 2023 | 678 | 456 |
| 2024 | 754 | 414 |
| 2025 | 841 | 363 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 146 | 328 |
| 2012 | 141 | 344 |
| 2013 | 135 | 339 |
| 2014 | 164 | 291 |
| 2015 | 159 | 300 |
| 2016 | 178 | 280 |
| 2017 | 180 | 272 |
| 2018 | 170 | 279 |
| 2019 | 179 | 269 |
| 2020 | 140 | 327 |
| 2021 | 145 | 328 |
| 2022 | 132 | 327 |
| 2023 | 147 | 297 |
| 2024 | 117 | 371 |
| 2025 | 131 | 329 |

## People named Helena

- Helena Bonham Carter, British actress (born 1966)
- Cecilia Helena Payne Gaposchkin, British-born American astronomer
- Helena Christensen, Danish model and photographer
- Helena Suková, Czech tennis player and psychologist
- Helena Gualinga, Ecuadorian activist
- Helena Zengel, German actress
- Helena Fibingerová, Czechoslovak shot-putter
- Helena Noguerra, Belgian actress and singer
- Katri Helena, Finnish singer
- Princess Helena Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, Danish princess (1888-1962)
- Princess Helena Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein, British princess
- Helena of Bulgaria, Bulgarian princess

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.