Every Girl Name

Girl's name

Elena

Say it EL-uh-nuh

Roots in Italian, Spanish and Greek 3 syllables

Sister names Middle names Deal sisters

Where Elena is loved, common and rare

Loved in Switzerland and one more place. Common across Austria, five German cities, Canada and 13 more places. Rare in the UK, Sweden and Ireland.

1 in 471 girls born in Scotland in 2025

Every place

In 29 of the 40 official lists, among them Switzerland (10th), Austria (22nd) and Munich (23rd).

Show all 29 placesShow less
PlaceRankGirlsShare
Switzerland10th 20252131 in 160
Austria22nd 20252811 in 127
Munich city23rd 202541about 1 in 102
Quebec province26th 2025188about 1 in 138
Italy27th 20241,2361 in 145
Berlin city30th 202374about 1 in 196
Spain34th 2024860rank only
Hungary41st 2025255rank only
France42nd 20251,7801 in 161
Cologne city43rd 202325about 1 in 246
The Netherlands52nd 2025246about 1 in 248
Slovenia52nd 202536about 1 in 184
New South Wales state63rd 2025109rank only
British Columbia province66th 202337about 1 in 323
Ontario province69th 2024133about 1 in 410
Victoria state71st 202588rank only
Catalonia region72nd 2025591 in 327
South Australia state87th 202518rank only
Poland91st 20252221 in 540
Norway98th 2025611 in 357
Scotland116th 2025381 in 471
England and Wales161st 20253071 in 825
Northern Ireland177th 2025101 in 729
Sweden180th 202549about 1 in 820
Ireland189th 2025231 in 919
Rostock city9th 20259about 1 in 109
Croatia12th 2025205rank only
Leipzig city34th 202512about 1 in 219
Bonn city43rd 202512about 1 in 251

Rare, below the listed names: Queensland, New Zealand and Israel.

Not in a short top list, so no figure: Nova Scotia (top 21), Denmark (top 50), Finland (top 50), Iceland (top 10), Estonia (top 25), Moscow (top 61), Turkey (top 30) and Argentina (top 20).

Germany publishes no national statistics on first names. German figures here are city lists (Berlin, Munich, Cologne, Bonn, Leipzig, Rostock), never the country.

Sources: Bundesamt für Statistik (BFS) / Office fédéral de la statistique (OFS) (Switzerland); Statistik Austria (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1) (Austria); Landeshauptstadt München, Statistisches Amt (opendata.muenchen.de) (Munich); Retraite Québec (Banque de prénoms, Données Québec) (Quebec); ISTAT, Contanomi (Italy); BerlinOnline GmbH; Landesamt für Bürger- und Ordnungsangelegenheiten (LABO) / Standesämter (Berlin); INE (Instituto Nacional de Estadística) (Spain); Belügyminisztérium, Nyilvántartások (kormany.hu) (Hungary); INSEE, Fichier des prénoms (édition 2025) (France); Stadt Köln, Standesamt (offenedaten-koeln.de) (Cologne); Sociale Verzekeringsbank (SVB) (the Netherlands); Statistični urad Republike Slovenije (SURS), SiStat (Slovenia); NSW Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages (Data.NSW) (New South Wales); BC Vital Statistics Agency (BC Data Catalogue) (British Columbia); Ontario Office of the Registrar General (Ontario Data Catalogue) (Ontario); Registry of BDM Victoria (DataVic) (Victoria); Idescat (Institut d'Estadística de Catalunya) (Catalonia); SA Attorney-General's Department, Births, Deaths and Marriages (data.sa.gov.au) (South Australia); Ministerstwo Cyfryzacji, rejestr PESEL (dane.gov.pl) (Poland); Statistics Norway (SSB) (Norway); National Records of Scotland (Scotland); Office for National Statistics (England and Wales); NISRA (Northern Ireland); Skatteverket (Swedish Tax Agency) (Sweden); Central Statistics Office (CSO) (Ireland); Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock (opendata-hro.de) (Rostock); Ministarstvo pravosuđa, uprave i digitalne transformacije (Matica rođenih) (Croatia); Stadt Leipzig, Standesamt (opendata.leipzig.de) (Leipzig); Bundesstadt Bonn, Standesamt (opendata.bonn.de) (Bonn). How we count, and every source

About the name

Elena is the Italian and Spanish form of Helen, and the name goes back to Ancient Greek. English borrowed it directly from those languages, so it keeps its Mediterranean shape rather than taking an English one.

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In English it is usually EL-uh-nuh, three syllables with the stress on the first. Its relatives are many: Helena, Helen, Ellen, Lena, Ilona, Ileana and Alena among them, so it sits comfortably in almost any European language. Lena is the obvious short form.

Elena ranks in the top ten in Switzerland and close to it in Croatia, and it is popular in Austria. In the English-speaking world it does best in Quebec, New South Wales and British Columbia. It is rising in several countries and falling in very few, and in France it peaked around 2018.

Meaning, origin, pronunciation

Pronounced
EL-uh-nuh, 3 syllables
Origin
Italian, Spanish and Greek
Other spellings
  • Helena
  • Ilona
  • Ela
  • Helene
  • Alena
  • Lena
  • Ellen
  • Elna
  • Elina
  • Helen
  • Ileana
  • Elen
  • Aelena
  • Jela
  • Lene
  • Helka
  • Jeļena
  • Lenka
  • Eleni
  • Lenke
  • Leena
Etymology

Borrowed from Italian and Spanish Elena, cognate to English Helen. A female given name from Italian, Spanish, or Ancient Greek.

From the Wiktionary entry, CC BY-SA 4.0, shortened.

Over time

Over five years: rising in 5 of 27 regions, falling in 1.

Show the yearsShow less

Rank in each place since 1996; higher on the chart is more popular.

Switzerland 25th 2000 to 10th 2025
1st10th100th1000th19962025
Austria 74th 1996 to 22nd 2025
1st10th100th1000th19962025
Munich 43rd 2013 to 23rd 2025
1st10th100th1000th19962025
Quebec 409th 1996 to 26th 2025
1st10th100th1000th19962025
Italy 14th 1999 to 27th 2024
1st10th100th1000th19962025
Berlin 62nd 2012 to 30th 2023
1st10th100th1000th19962025

Ten years of ranks

Her rank each year, English-speaking regions first. A blank means no published rank for her that year.

Region2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
England and Wales151135132134140152138167146161
Scotland185210126154143149116163171116
Northern Ireland202122130167149190135171192177
Ireland140128134187126160118156114189
Ontario946765708861716769
British Columbia96737475691027666
New South Wales816856716468719963
Victoria867691798672887971
Queensland10010091
South Australia115180769587
Quebec61433840323230262626
France45444451535448453942
The Netherlands766354445553685452
Austria18191718172018202022
Switzerland3155157365610
Berlin6039305829454830
Munich28344123313938212223
Cologne5648635356595443
Bonn735851595011099538443
Leipzig131423950414761292834
Rostock58228564462146321689
Norway110848210810812512213310798
Sweden241203152208167200167174164180
Iceland150297
Spain232223293235393834
Catalonia72765765766994767172
Italy292627272629292727
Poland95888984878586939191
Hungary10098796860414241
Slovenia76606755545849464252
Moscow4555
Croatia101312

England and Wales, 1996 to 2025

YearRankGirlsper 100,000 girls
2025161307121.2
2024146342132.6
2023167306119.3
2022138363137.8
2021152343125.2
2020140365136.0
2019134370132.1
2018132393136.3
2017135394131.7
2016151361117.5
2015146379123.1
2014155357116.4
2013159328106.3
201218528086.9
201117130494.6
201019226482.2
200923920063.8
200820625079.2
200723521770.9
200621622374.5
200521022678.4
200421421474.9
200320323283.3
200218223788.6
200120319873.9
200017624589.7
199920620572.8
199820321373.7
199720221272.3
199620221372.0

Sources: Office for National Statistics (1996-2025), OGL v3.

France since 1925

Half of the babies named Elena in France since 1925 were born in or after 2015. First recorded in 1925. Her peak year there: 2018, at 685.9 per 100,000 girls.

05001,0001940196019802000202005001,00019602000

Babies named Elena per 100,000 girls born in France, by five-year period. Her 2018 peak is averaged into its five-year period, so the line sits below it.

Sources: INSEE, Fichier des prénoms (édition 2025) (1900-2025), Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0.

Sister names for Elena

  1. 1 in 334 in England and Wales

  2. 1 in 132 in Scotland

  3. 1 in 190 in Ireland

  4. 1 in 571 in Ireland

  5. 1 in 778 in Scotland

  6. 1 in 99 in Scotland

  7. 1 in 1,041 in Northern Ireland

  8. 1 in 2,347 in Ireland

  9. 1 in 587 in Ireland

  10. 1 in 307 in England and Wales

All sister names for ElenaDeal more sisters

Middle names for Elena

  1. 1 in 107 in Northern Ireland

  2. 1 in 86 in Ireland

  3. 1 in 57 in Northern Ireland

  4. 1 in 71 in Scotland

  5. 1 in 102 in Ireland

  6. 1 in 132 in Northern Ireland

  7. 1 in 214 in Northern Ireland

  8. 1 in 173 in Northern Ireland

All middle names for ElenaDeal more middle names

Same style as Elena

Names whose popularity rose and fell with hers across regions and decades.

  1. 1 in 426 in Scotland

  2. 1 in 1,041 in Northern Ireland

  3. 1 in 1,509 in Ireland

  4. 1 in 3,018 in Ireland

  5. 1 in 852 in Scotland

  6. 1 in 260 in Northern Ireland

  7. 1 in 571 in Ireland

  8. 1 in 754 in Ireland

Deal more in this style

Famous people named Elena

Elena Ferrante, Elena Cornaro Piscopia, Elena of Montenegro, Elena Kagan, Elena Gheorghe, Elena Anaya, Elena Tsagrinou and Elena Delle Donne.

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People: Wikidata (CC0), linked to Wikipedia in this page's language when an article exists.

Questions about Elena

4 questions, on how popular she is, how to say it, whether she is rising and sister names.

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How popular is Elena?

Her best rank is No. 10 in Switzerland in 2025, about 1 in 160 girls. She is in the published lists of 29 of our 40 regions.

How do you pronounce Elena?

EL-uh-nuh, with 3 syllables.

Is Elena getting more popular?

Over five years: rising in 5 of 27 regions, falling in 1.

Which sister names go with Elena?

The deck's top five sisters for Elena: Iris, Maya, Zoe, Sara and Gabriella. Each is scored on style, era, popularity and origin, with sound clashes flagged.

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