Lena

What Lena means

Means “the Large River”

The river in Yakutia is from Russian Лена (Lena), from Evenki Елюенэ (Jeljujenə, “the Large River”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Lena” (revision 93848164), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Lena?

US: Steady: #273 in 2015, #279 now. England & Wales: Falling: down from #134 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1883, when 800 girls got the name (#42 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 1,453 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 1,603 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 852 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 VT (5.13 per 1,000 girls), DC (2.97 per 1,000 girls), MT (2.12 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

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

US vs UK

Lena is #279 in the US and #288 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 Lena 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

• Luna6,076 US · 757 E&W
• Lana768 US · 185 E&W
• Lina527 US · 200 E&W
• Leena212 US · 80 E&W
• Leni197 US · 78 E&W
• Lani131 US · 25 E&W
• Lenna115 US · 7 E&W
• Layna79 US · 8 E&W

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 Lena

Girls

• Elsie#123Diminutive of Alison, meaning “of noble kind”^*
• Penelope#22possibly “duck”^*
• Ariella#174Form of Ariel, meaning “lion of God”^*
• Elliott#599“my God is Yahweh”^*
• Zara#212“flower”^*
• Athena#109Editor’s note Up from #157 in 2015 to #109 in 2025 in the US

For a brother

• Levi#12Editor’s note Up from #42 in 2015 to #12 in 2025 in the US. About 1 in 180 US boys in the 2025 records
• Eden#544possibly “steppe, garden”^*
• Jedidiah#874“beloved of Yahweh”^*
• Ari#393“lion”^*
• Elliot#151Variant of Elliott, meaning “my God is Yahweh”^*
• Ezra#20Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #93 in 2015, #20 in 2025. Short and simple: 4 letters

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