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Name Lineage

    The first name Helga

    A girl’s name from Norse meaning “holy”.

    Pronounced /ˈhɛlɡə/ 2 syllables Female

    Meaning and origin

    Norse origin

    Helga means “holy” in Norse.

    From Old Norse Helga (“holy”), a pre-Christian term, feminine form of Helgi. Doublet of Olga.

    More names that mean holy.

    From Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

    Popularity in the United States

    Babies named Helga at birth, 1880–2025

    In 2020, 5 girls born in the United States were named Helga, the 16,004th most popular girls’ name that year. It was used most in 1961, when 54 were.

    03060 188018851890189519001905191019151920192519301935194019451950195519601965197019751980198519901995200020052010201520202025
    2,209
    babies named Helga since 1880
    #16,004
    rank in 2020
    1961
    peak year

    US Social Security Administration, from applications for a Social Security card. A name is only published for a year when at least five babies were given it, so quieter years show as zero.

    Helga in other languages

    Equivalent forms of the name, from Wiktionary

    Helka
    Finnish
    Όλγα
    Ólga
    Greek
    Elga
    Latvian
    О́льга
    Ólʹga
    Russian

    Spelled Helga in Danish, French, German, Hungarian, Icelandic, Portuguese and Swedish too.

    Famous people named Helga

    31 on Wikidata, most written-about first

    • Helga Seidler
      East German sprinter, born 1949
    • Helga Mees
      German fencer (1937-2014)
    • Helga Radtke
      German long jumper, born 1962
    • Helga Deen
      Author of a diary, discovered in 2004
    • Helga Vlahović
      Croatian journalist, producer, and television personality (1945–2012)
    • Helga M. Novak
      German-Icelandic writer (1935-2013)
    • Helga Anders
      Austrian television actress (1948–1986)
    • Helga Schmid
      German diplomat, born 1960
    • Helga Stevens
      Belgian politician, born 1968
    • Helga Hošková-Weissová
      Czech artist and Holocaust survivor (b. 1929)
    • Helga Lindner
      East German swimmer (1951–2021)
    • Helga Nowotny
      Austrian sociologist, born 1937

    More Norse girls’ names

    All 32 names of Norse origin

    Questions

    What does the name Helga mean?
    Helga means “holy” in Norse.
    What is the origin of the name Helga?
    From Old Norse Helga (“holy”), a pre-Christian term, feminine form of Helgi. Doublet of Olga.
    Is Helga a boy's or a girl's name?
    Mostly a girl's name: 100% of the 2,209 US babies named Helga since 1880 were girls.
    When was Helga most popular?
    1961 in the United States, when 54 babies were named Helga, its highest rank at 1,537th.
    How do you pronounce Helga?
    Helga is /ˈhɛlɡə/, 2 syllables.