Helen

What Helen means

Meaning not yet sourced. Wiktionary has no word-by-word meaning for Helen yet, and we don’t write our own.

Editor’s note Down from #419 in 2015 to #461 in 2025 in the US Worked out from the official US and England & Wales counts, not a meaning.

How popular is Helen?

US: Falling: down from #419 in 2015. England & Wales: Steady: #735 in 2015, #705 now.

Biggest US share so far: 1917, when 34,251 girls got the name (#2 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 2,406 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 4,871 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 5,964 baby girls in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in DC (4.46 per 1,000 girls), VA (1.19 per 1,000 girls), MD (1.0 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed girls born in each state.

US vs UK

Helen is #461 in the US and #705 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (girls). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Helen were girls.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Hellen112 US
• Halen51 US
• Helene42 US · 3 E&W
• Haelyn27 US
• Haylen19 US
• Helin0 US · 16 E&W
• Halyn10 US
• Heilyn10 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Helen

Girls

• Anna#107Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #44 in 2015, #107 in 2025
• Karina#749Form of Catherine, possibly meaning “each of the two”^*
• Angel#546Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 2002, with 3,100 babies; 551 in 2025
• Angela#408“messenger, angel”^*
• Alexandria#474Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #212 in 2015, #474 in 2025
• Nancy#965Editor’s note More popular in England & Wales than the US: #78 vs #965 in 2025

For a brother

• Cristian#362Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #362 vs #1,197 in 2025
• Hector#409“holding fast”^*
• Alexis#513“helper, defender”^*
• Alec#977Diminutive of Alexander, meaning “to defend + man”^*
• Christian#96Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 2000, with 16,059 babies; 3,641 in 2025
• Alex#232Short form of Alexandra, meaning “to defend + man”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Greek, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Helen’s. Rank is US 2025.