girl's name
Elina
ay-LEE-nah
- Origin French
- Gender Girl
- Letters 5
- Popularity Top 1000 (France)
- Births on record 24,793
the United States
#765
2025 births
Elina is a girl's name of Greek origin meaning "torch" or "bright," a Finnish, Baltic and Italian form of Helen. It ranks 161st in France and 765th in the United States, and it is stable.
- Elina is a name of French origin.
- Peaked in France in 2013, when 760 babies were given the name.
- Its usage has held steady over the past decade in France.
- Today about 1 in 1,760 babies in France is given this name.
- First appears in birth records in 1900.
Elina over time
Births per decade in France, 1900s 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 |
|---|---|
| 1900s | 310 |
| 1910s | 215 |
| 1920s | 185 |
| 1930s | 90 |
| 1940s | 55 |
| 1950s | 55 |
| 1960s | 65 |
| 1970s | 90 |
| 1980s | 300 |
| 1990s | 860 |
| 2000s | 3,925 |
| 2010s | 6,965 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 3,245 |
What Elina means
Elina inherits Helen's meaning, which has never been settled. Torch, from the Greek helene, is the traditional reading; a connection to the moon has also been argued, and neither can be shown.
Where Elina comes from
Elina is a form of Helena used across Finnish, Estonian, Latvian, Swedish and Italian, from the Greek Helene. That name's derivation is genuinely lost — helene, a torch, is traditional, and a link to selene, the moon, has been argued since antiquity without resolution. Helen of Troy carried it into every European language, and Saint Helena, mother of Constantine and by tradition the finder of the True Cross, made it usable by Christians. In Finland, Elina is among the most common women's names of the twentieth century and is the Finnish form used in the Bible for Helen. Elina also exists as a separate Sanskrit name meaning intelligent, and as an Arabic and Persian name, so the four letters carry three unconnected traditions.
Elina in use
Elina ranks 161st in France with about 470 births in 2025 and 765th in the United States, and it is stable in our data with a peak in 2013. Our records carry it from 1900. It holds 575th in England and Wales. The name sits alongside Eline, Elena, Helena and Ellina in French records as separate entries, which spreads a demand larger than any of them shows alone.
How popular is Elina?
In 2025, Elina was given to 335 babies in France, ranking #161 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Elina is used
French counts are rounded to the nearest five and nothing below five is published, so these figures show the shape of the name's use rather than an exact tally. Data & sources.
How Elina is spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Élina | Élina is Elina written with an acute accent, used in France, where it ranks #398. | 2,235 |
| Élïna | Élïna is a rare spelling of Elina, written with an acute accent and recorded about 5 times, mostly in France. | 5 |
Names that peaked alongside Elina
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Elina also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Elina over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Elina 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 Elina
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Elina — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Elina
What does the name Elina mean?
It inherits Helen's meaning, which is unsettled. Torch is the traditional reading.
Is Elina a Finnish name?
It is common in Finnish, Estonian and Baltic use, and is the Finnish biblical form of Helen.
Is Elina related to Elena?
Yes — both descend from the Greek Helene.
How popular is Elina?
161st in France and 765th in the United States.
Is Elina a girl's or a boy's name?
Elina is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
Is Elina a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Elina currently ranks #161 in France. Its usage has held steady over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.