Helen is a

feminine Femininity (also called womanliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and Gender roles, roles generally associated with women and girls. Femininity can be understood as Social construction of gender, socially constructed, and there is also s ...

given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a f ...

derived from the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

name , ''Helenē'' (dialectal variants: , ''Helena'', , ''Elena'', , ''Welena''), which descends from

Proto-Hellenic The Proto-Greek language (also known as Proto-Hellenic) is the Indo-European language which was the last common ancestor of all varieties of Greek, including Mycenaean Greek, the subsequent ancient Greek dialects (i.e., Attic, Ionic, Aeol ...

''*Ηwelénā'', from a pre-Hellenic or late

Proto-Indo-European Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. No direct record of Proto-Indo-European exists; its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-Euro ...

''*Swelénā'' (a solar deity), ultimately derived from the Indo-European root ''*swel-'' (to shine, warm). The name is of uncertain origin. it might be connected to a Greek word meaning "ray of light" or "sunbeam", derived from ἥλιος or hḗlios, the Greek word for "

sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as visible light a ...

". Some sources also connect the name to Hellen, the word meaning Greek. Helen, worshipped as a goddess in

Laconia Laconia or Lakonia (, , ) is a historical and Administrative regions of Greece, administrative region of Greece located on the southeastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. Its administrative capital is Sparti (municipality), Sparta. The word ...

and

Rhodes Rhodes (; ) is the largest of the Dodecanese islands of Greece and is their historical capital; it is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, ninth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Administratively, the island forms a separ ...

, is a major character in

Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...

. The name was widely used by early

Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

due to

Saint Helena Saint Helena (, ) is one of the three constituent parts of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, a remote British overseas territory. Saint Helena is a volcanic and tropical island, located in the South Atlantic Ocean, some 1,874 km ...

, the mother of the emperor

Constantine I Constantine I (27 February 27222 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was a Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337 and the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. He played a Constantine the Great and Christianity, pivotal ro ...

, who according to legend found a piece of the

True Cross According to Christian tradition, the True Cross is the real instrument of Jesus' crucifixion, cross on which Jesus of Nazareth was Crucifixion of Jesus, crucified. It is related by numerous historical accounts and Christian mythology, legends ...

from the

crucifixion of Jesus The crucifixion of Jesus was the death of Jesus by being crucifixion, nailed to a cross.The instrument of Jesus' crucifixion, instrument of crucifixion is taken to be an upright wooden beam to which was added a transverse wooden beam, thus f ...

when she travelled to

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

. Helen was very popular in the United States during the first half of the 20th century, when it was one of the top ten names for baby girls, but became less common following World War II.

People

* Helen of Greece and Denmark (1896–1982), Queen Mother of Romania *

Saint Helen of Serbia Saint Helen of Serbia (; – 8 February 1314) was the queen consort of the Kingdom of Serbia (medieval), Serbian Kingdom, as the spouse of King Stefan Uroš I, who ruled from 1243 to 1276. Their sons were later Serbian kings Stefan Dragutin (12 ...

(died 1314), Serbian queen * Helen Acquroff (1831–1887), Scottish pianist, singer, poet and music teacher * Helen Adams (born 1978), British television personality * Helen Atkinson-Wood (born 1955), English actress * Helen Vickroy Austin (1829–1921), American journalist, horticulturist, suffragette * Helen Ball, senior British police officer * Helen Morton Barker (1834–1910), American social reformer * Helen Bar-Yaacov, Uzbekistani-born American rabbi * Helen Baxendale (born 1970), English actress * Helen Purdy Beale (1893–1976), US virologist * Helen Corinne Bergen (1868–19??), American author, journalist, critic * Helen Louisa Bostwick Bird (1826–1907), American author, poet * Helen Bjørnøy (born 1954), Norwegian politician * Helen Marie Black (1896–1988), American cultural and civic leader, publicist, and journalist * Helen Blanchard (1840–1922), American inventor * Helen Blatch (1934–2015), British actress * Helen Breger (1918–2013), Austrian-born American visual artist, educator * Helen Brew (1922–2013), New Zealand actor, birth campaigner, documentary filmmaker, educator and speech therapist for children * Helen Broderick (1891–1959), American actress * Helen Brook (1907–1997), British advocate of birth control * Helen Brown (disambiguation), several people * Helen Burnet, Tasmanian politician * Helen Calkins (1893–1970), American mathematician * Helen Stuart Campbell (1839–1918), American author, editor, social reformer, home economist * Helen Chadwick (1953–1996), English artist * Helen Clark (disambiguation), several people * Helen Clarke (disambiguation), several people * Helen Field Comstock (1840–1930), American poet, philanthropist * Helen J. Cooper, British chemist * Helen Millar Craggs (1888–1969), British suffragette and pharmacist, later 2nd Baroness Pethick-Lawrence * Helen Cross (disambiguation), several people * Helen D'Amato, Maltese politician and educator * Helen Joy Davidman (1915–1960), American poet and writer * Helen Davies (disambiguation), multiple people * Helen Denerley (born 1956), Scottish sculptor * Helen DeWitt (born 1957), American novelist * Helen Diemer, American architectural lighting designer * Helen Dimsdale (1907–1977), British neurologist * Helen Don-Duncan (born 1981), English swimmer * Helen Duncan (disambiguation), several people * Helen Merrill Egerton (1866–1951), Canadian writer * Helen Faison (1924–2015), American educator * Helen Morgenthau Fox (1884–1974), American botanist *

Helen Flanagan Helen Joyce Flanagan (born 7 August 1990) is an English actress, model, and television personality. She is best known for playing the role of Rosie Webster in the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' from 2000 to 2012; she returned to the rol ...

(born 1990), English actress * Helen Frankenthaler (1928–2011), American painter * Helen Fraser (actress) (born 1942), English actress * Helen Fraser (executive) (born 1949), British executive and businesswoman * Helen Fraser (feminist), later Moyes (1881–1979), Scottish suffragette, feminist, educationalist, politician; emigrated to Australia, toured America to develop WWI Women's Land Army * Helen Gamboa (born 1945), Filipina actress * Helen Gandy (1897–1988), American civil servant *

Helen Garner Helen Garner (née Ford, born 7 November 1942) is an Australian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter and journalist. Garner's debut novel, first novel, ''Monkey Grip (novel), Monkey Grip'', published in 1977, immediately established her ...

(born 1942), Australian author * Helen Glaves, British data scientist * Helen Golay (born 1931), American woman who murdered two homeless men for life insurance money * Helen Grant (author) (born 1964), English author * Helen Grant (field hockey) (born 1979), English field hockey player * Helen Grant (politician) (born 1961), British politician * Helen Haines (born 1961), Australian politician * Helen Hakena (born 1955), organiser and campaigner for peace and women's rights from Bougainville, Papua New Guinea * Helen Harrison-Bristol (1909–1995), Canadian pilot, civil aviation instructor, Air Transport Auxiliary ferry pilot during World War II. * Helen Hayes (disambiguation), several people * Helen Anne Henderson (1946–2015), Canadian journalist and disability rights activist * Helen Hindpere, Estonian writer * Helen Humes (1913–1981), American singer * Helen Hunt (disambiguation), several people * Helen Marr Hurd (1839–1909), American educator, poet *

Helen Hunt Jackson Helen Hunt Jackson (pen name, H.H.; born Helen Maria Fiske; October 15, 1830 – August 12, 1885) was an American poet and writer who became an activist on behalf of improved treatment of Native Americans by the United States government. She de ...

(1830–1855), American poet, writer, activist * Helen Jacobs (1908–1997), American tennis player * Helen G. James, American equality activist * Helen Jones (disambiguation), several people * Helen Kane (1904–1966), American singer * Helen Keller (disambiguation), several people * Helen Kendall (1892–1985), Canadian military nurse * Helen Kerly (1916–1992), British Air Transport Auxiliary pilot officer in the Second World War * Helen Kevric (born 2008), German artistic gymnast * Helen Klaos (born 1983), Estonian badminton player * Helen Aldrich De Kroyft (1818–1915), American author * Helen Landgarten (1921–2011), American psychotherapist, art therapy pioneer * Helen Hull Law (1890–1966), American college professor of Latin and Greek * Helen Dortch Longstreet (1863–1962), American newspaper editor, publisher * Helen Ma (actress) (born 1950), Hong Kong actress * Helen MacRae (''active'' 1909–1914), British suffragette * Helen Marshall (disambiguation), several people * Helen Martin (disambiguation), several people * Helene Mayer (1910–1953), German fencer * Helen Mayo (1878–1967), Australian medical doctor and medical educator * Helen McCall (1899–1956), Canadian photographer * Helen McCrory (1968–2021), English actress * Helen Maud Merrill (1865–1943), American litterateur, poet * Helen Abbott Michael (1857–1904), American chemist and physician *

Helen Mirren Dame Helen Mirren (; born Ilyena Lydia Vasilievna Mironov; 26 July 1945) is an English actor. With a career spanning over six decades of Helen Mirren on screen and stage, screen and stage, List of awards and nominations received by Helen Mirre ...

(born 1945), English actress * Helen Molesworth (born 1966), American contemporary art curator * Helen Moore (disambiguation), multiple people * Helen Morgan (disambiguation), several people * Helen Morse (born 1947), Australian actress * Helen Moses (1905–1985), American swimmer * Helen Nielsen (1918–2002), American writer * Helen O'Brien (1925–2005), British nightclub owner and spy *

Helen O'Connell Helen O'Connell (May 23, 1920 – September 9, 1993) was an American singer, actress, and hostess, described as "the quintessential big band singer of the 1940s". Early life Born in Lima, Ohio, O'Connell grew up in Toledo, Ohio. By the ti ...

(1920–1993), American singer, actress, and hostess * Helen Ofurum, Nigerian writer * Helen Betty Osborne (1952–1971), Canadian murder victim * Helen Pai, American television writer, director, and producer * Helén Pettersson (born 1972), Swedish politician * Helen Phelps (died 1980), American murder victim * Helen Philemon (born 1980), track and field athlete from Papua New Guinea * Helen Plaschinski (born 1963), Mexican swimmer * Helen Beatrix Potter (1866–1943), English author, illustrator and natural scientist *

Helen Reddy Helen Maxine Reddy (25 October 194129 September 2020) was an Australian-American singer, actress, television host, and activist. Born in Melbourne to a show business family, Reddy started her career as an entertainer at age four. She sang on ra ...

(1941–2020), Australian-American singer-songwriter and actress * Helen Leah Reed (1861/62 – 1926), Canadian-born American writer * Helen Repa (1884–1938), Czech American Nurse * Helen Hinsdale Rich (1827–1915), American writer * Helen Richardson-Walsh (born 1981), English field hockey player * Helen Rickerby, New Zealand poet, writer, editor and publisher * Helen Roberts (disambiguation), several people * Helen Roche, British historian of modern European cultural history * Helen Rockel (born 1945), New Zealand painter * Helen Roden (born 1986), former college basketballer and Australian rules footballer * Helen Rollason (1956–1999), British sports journalist and television presenter * Helen P. Sanborn (1858–1922), American educator and civic worker * Helen McGaffey Searles (1856–1936), American professor, classicist, and women's suffragist *

Helen Shapiro Helen Kate Shapiro (born 28 September 1946) is a British Pop music, pop and jazz singer and actress. While still a teenager in the early 1960s, she was one of Britain's most successful female singers. With a voice described by AllMusic as poss ...

(born 1946), English singer *

Helen Sjöholm Marie Helen Sjöholm (; born 10 July 1970) is a Swedish singer, actress and musical theatre performer who lives in Gamla Enskede in Stockholm. She grew up in Sundsvall and started to sing in choirs at an early age, working, among others, with Sw ...

(born 1970), Swedish singer * Helen Slater (born 1963), American actress * Helen Slayton-Hughes (1930–2022), American actress * Helen Southworth (born 1956), British politician * Helen Ekin Starrett (1840–1920), American educator, author, suffragette * Helen Stephens (1918–1994), American athlete * Helen Stewart (disambiguation), several people * Helen Svedin (born 1976), Swedish model * Helen Sworn, English Baptist missionary * Helen Tam (born 1963), host of children's programmes in Hong Kong * Helen Tamiris (1905–1966), American choreographer *

Helen Rand Thayer Helen Chadwick Thayer ( Rand; October 3, 1863 – April 14, 1935) was an American suffragist and social reformer. A pioneer in the settlement movement era, she was a co-founder and president of the College Settlements Association (CSA). She was an ...

(1863–1935), American social reformer * Helen Sharsmith (1905–1982), American botanist * Helen Stern Richards (1917–1983), American theatre manager * Helen Steven (1942–2016), Scottish pacifist * Helen Stevenson (artist), Scottish artist * Helen Roberts (disambiguation), multiple people * Helen Taylor (disambiguation), several people * Helen Thomas (disambiguation), multiple people *

Helena Thopia Helena Thopia (; 1388–1403) was an Albanians, Albanian princess of the Thopia family who held the Krujë region as sovereign lady for two terms; 1388–1392 and 1394–1403. Life Princess Helena, was the eldest daughter of Karl Thopia and Voisa ...

(fl. 1388–1403), Albanian princess * Helen Tobias-Duesberg (1919–2010), Estonian-American composer * Helen Va'aga (born 1977), New Zealand rugby player and coach * Helen Vernet (1875–1956), first woman in Great Britain to be granted a license as a bookmaker on a racecourse * Helen Volk (born 1954), Zimbabwean field hockey player * Helen Walker (disambiguation), several people * Helen Weiss, British epidemiologist * Helen Augusta Whittier (1846–1925), American editor, lecturer, teacher, clubwoman, businesswoman * Helen Williams (disambiguation), multiple people * Helen M. Winslow (1851–1938), American author, journalist * Helen Wong Smith, American archivist and librarian * Helen Zille (born 1951), South African politician

References

{{given name English feminine given names Estonian feminine given names Feminine given names Given names of Greek language origin Greek feminine given names Swedish feminine given names English-language feminine given names

People

See also

References