girl's name
Elena
eh-LAY-nuh
- Origin Greek
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 3
- Letters 5
- Popularity Top 100 (US)
- Births on record 166,612
the United States
#42
2025 births
Elena is a girl's name of Greek origin, the Italian, Spanish, and Russian form of Helen. It descends from the Greek Helene, usually connected to a root meaning torch or shining light, and names the figure whose abduction begins the Trojan War in Homer's Iliad.
- Elena is a name of Greek origin.
- Peaked in 2025, when 4,842 babies were given the name.
- It has been rising over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 685 babies in the United States is given this name.
- 3 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Elena over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1880s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 74 |
| 1890s | 200 |
| 1900s | 376 |
| 1910s | 1,335 |
| 1920s | 2,169 |
| 1930s | 1,645 |
| 1940s | 2,247 |
| 1950s | 3,454 |
| 1960s | 4,744 |
| 1970s | 5,294 |
| 1980s | 6,343 |
| 1990s | 9,517 |
| 2000s | 15,712 |
| 2010s | 28,809 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 26,198 |
What Elena means
Elena is generally read as meaning bright, shining, or torch, inherited from the Greek Helene. The derivation is not fully settled — some scholars link it to helios, the sun, and others treat the root as pre-Greek and unrecoverable.
Where Elena comes from
Elena is the Romance and Slavic form of the Greek Helene, which reached Latin as Helena and from there entered every European language. The most commonly cited root is helene, a torch, though a connection to helios, the sun, is also proposed and neither is certain. The name's classical weight comes from Helen of Troy, whose flight with Paris triggers the Trojan War, and its Christian standing from Saint Helena, mother of the emperor Constantine, who according to tradition located the True Cross in Jerusalem in the fourth century. Elena is the standard form in Italian, Spanish, Romanian, and Russian, while English kept Helen and Helena.
How popular is Elena?
In 2025, Elena was given to 4,842 babies in the United States, ranking #42 that year. It is one of the most popular names in the United States.
Where Elena is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
How Elena is spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Eléna | Eléna is Elena written with an acute accent, used in France, where it ranks #154. | 8,365 |
| Éléna | Éléna is Elena written with an acute accent, used in France, where it ranks #172. | 4,005 |
| Élena | Élena is Elena written with an acute accent, used in France, where it ranks #1,112. | 420 |
| Élèna | Élèna is a rare spelling of Elena, written with an acute accent and recorded about 265 times, mostly in France. | 265 |
| Elèna | Elèna is a rare spelling of Elena, written with a grave accent and recorded about 250 times, mostly in France. | 250 |
Names that peaked alongside Elena
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Elena also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Elena over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
2 nicknames for Elena
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Elena in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Elena
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Elena — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Elena
What does the name Elena mean?
Elena is generally read as "bright" or "shining," from the Greek Helene, though the root is not fully settled.
Is Elena the same name as Helen?
Yes. Elena is the Italian, Spanish, and Russian form of the Greek Helene.
Who was Helen of Troy?
Helen is the figure in Homer's Iliad whose flight with Paris begins the Trojan War; her Greek name is the source of Elena.
How popular is the name Elena?
In 2025, Elena was given to 4,842 babies in the United States, ranking #42 that year. It is one of the most popular names in the United States.
Is Elena a girl's or a boy's name?
Elena is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Elena?
Elena has 3 syllables.
When was Elena most popular?
Elena peaked in 2025, when 4,842 babies were given the name. It has been rising over the past decade.
What are the nicknames for Elena?
Elena is usually shortened to Ellie and Lena.
Is Elena a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Elena currently ranks #42 in the United States. It has been rising over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.