Helena
Meaning of Helena
Helena—pronounced eh-LEH-nah in Spanish and Italian and heh-LAY-nuh in English—springs from the ancient Greek name Helene, meaning “torch” or “bright light,” a sense captured in the Latin word lux that long ago threaded through Roman poetry. Classical legend first stamped the name on history in the figure of Helen of Troy, while early Christian tradition spread it across Europe through Saint Helena, the devout Empress said to have found the True Cross. Centuries later, Shakespeare, Tennyson and Chekhov kept the name alive on stage and page, and modern culture echoes with it in artist Helena Almeida and actor Helena Bonham Carter. In the United States, Helena held steady among the Top 200 at the dawn of the 20th century, slipped during the post-war decades, and has inched upward again—reaching rank 371 in 2024—suggesting a quiet revival among parents drawn to its classical polish, cross-linguistic ease and understated glow.
Pronunciation
Spanish
- Pronunced as eh-LEH-nah (/eˈlena/)
Italian
- Pronunced as eh-LEH-nah (/eˈlɛna/)
English
- Pronunced as heh-LAY-nuh (/həˈleɪnə/)
U.S. Popularity Chart
States Popularity Chart
Notable People Named Helena
| Helena Petrovna Blavatsky was a Russian mystic who co-founded the Theosophical Society and established Theosophy as a belief system. |
| Helena Bonham Carter is an English actress celebrated for her eccentric roles in period dramas and her Oscar-nominated performances. |
| Helena Modrzejewska, known professionally as Helena Modjeska, was a Polish-American actress renowned for her Shakespearean and tragic roles. |
| Helena Rubinstein was a Polish-American businesswoman, art collector, and philanthropist who founded a cosmetics empire and became one of the world's wealthiest women. |
| Helena Christensen is a Danish fashion model, former Victoria's Secret Angel, co-founder of Nylon magazine, and a supporter of breast cancer funding and philanthropic causes. |
| Helena Gualinga - Sumak Helena Sirén Gualinga is a Swedish-Ecuadorian environmental and human rights activist from the Kichwa Sarayaku community in Ecuador. |
| Helena van der Kraan-Maazel was a Czechoslovak-born Dutch photographer and part of the artist duo Axel en Helena van der Kraan. |
| Helena Louise Morrissey, Baroness Morrissey, is a British financier, campaigner, and Conservative peer. |
| Helena Palaiologina, a beautiful Byzantine princess, was taken into Sultan Mehmed II's harem but soon left in the province over fears of poisoning. |
| Helena Gasson is a New Zealand Olympic swimmer who competed in the 2016 Rio Games and now swims for the Coast Swim Club Elite Team and LA Current. |
| Helena Palaiologina, Despotess of Serbia - Helena Palaiologina, a Byzantine princess, married Serbian Despot Lazar Branković, fled to Lefkada after Smederevo fell, and converted to Catholicism. |
| Helena Tattermuschová was a Czech lyric coloratura soprano with an international career, renowned for performing Mozart roles and Czech operas at the Prague National Theatre from 1956 to 1991. |
| Helena Benitez - Helena Zoila Tirona Benitez was a Filipina academic and administrator at the Philippine Women's University. |
| Helena Wells was an American novelist and writer active in the late eighteenth century. |
| Helena Hauff is a Hamburg-based German DJ and producer known for her stripped-down techno and electro tracks recorded with analog equipment and influenced by acid house, EBM, and industrial music. |
