Helen (given name)

Helen
	Eastern Orthodox icon of Saint Constantine the Great and Saint Helena, his mother.
Pronunciation	/ˈhɛlən/
Gender	Female
Name day	19 May (Certain Lutheran Churches); 21 May (Orthodox, Anglican & Lutheran Churches); 18 August (Roman Catholic Church)
Origin
Language(s)	Ancient Greek
Meaning	'shining', 'warming' (originally the name of a solar deity)
Region of origin	Ancient Greece
Other names
Nickname(s)	Lena, Lenie, Elle, El, Ellie, Hela, Heli
Related names	Elaina, Ellyn, Elaine, Elayne, Elayna, Elen, Elene, Ellen, Elena, Eleni, Elin, Helena, Helene, Helaine, Ilona, Ilana, Yelena
Popularity	see popular names

Helen is a feminine given name derived from the Ancient Greek name Ἑλένη, Helenē (dialectal variants: Ἑλένα, Helena, Ἐλένα, Elena, Ϝελένα, Welena), which descends from Proto-Hellenic *Ηwelénā, from a pre-Hellenic or late Proto-Indo-European *Swelénā (a solar deity), ultimately derived from the Indo-European root *swel- (to shine, warm).^[1]

Helen is a feminine name of Greek origin that means "torch" or "light." It can also mean "shining" or "warming." Helen was originally the name of a solar deity. Helen is associated with the phrase "the face that launched a thousand ships."

Helen, worshipped as a goddess in Laconia and Rhodes, is a major character in Greek mythology. The name was widely used by early Christians due to Saint Helena, the mother of the emperor Constantine I, who according to legend found a piece of the cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified when she traveled to Jerusalem.^[2] 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.^[3]

People

Helen of Greece and Denmark (1896–1982), Queen Mother of Romania
Saint Helen of Serbia (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 (1917–1986), New Zealand painter
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 (born 1950), New Zealand politician
Helen Clark (born 1954), British politician
Helen Taggart Clark (1849–1918), American journalist, poet
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 (born 1967), English author
Helen Cross, Australian politician
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 Merrill Egerton (1866–1951), Canadian writer
Helen Faison (1924–2015), American educator
Helen Flanagan (born 1990), English actress
Helen Frankenthaler (1928–2011), American painter
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 (born 1942), Australian author
Helen Golay (born 1931), American woman who murdered two homeless men for life insurance money
Helen Grant (born 1961), British politician
Helen Grant (born 1964), English author
Helen Grant (born 1979), English field hockey player
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 (1900–1993), American actress
Helen Anne Henderson (1946–2015), Canadian journalist and disability rights activist
Helen Hindpere, Estonian writer
Helen Humes (1913–1981), American singer
Helen Hunt (born 1963), American actress
Helen Marr Hurd (1839–1909), American educator, poet
Helen Hunt Jackson (1830–1855), American poet, writer, activist
Helen Jacobs (1908–1997), American tennis player
Helen G. James, American equality activist
Helen Kane (1904–1966), American singer
Helen Keller (1880–1968), American author, political activist and lecturer
Helen Kerly (1916-1992) British Air Transport Auxiliary pilot officer in 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 (1898–1988), American historian of nursing
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 (born 1945), English actress
Helen Molesworth (born 1966), American contemporary art curator
Helen Moore (disambiguation), multiple people
Helen Morgan (1900–1941), American singer
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 (1920–1993), American singer, actress, and hostess
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 (1941–2020), Australian-American singer-songwriter and actress
Helen Hinsdale Rich (1827–1915), American writer
Helen Richardson-Walsh (born 1981), an English field hockey player
Helen Rickerby, New Zealand poet, writer, editor and publisher
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 McGaffey Searles (1856–1936), American professor, classicist, and women's suffragist
Helen Shapiro (born 1946), English singer
Helen Sjöholm (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 (1900–1983), New Zealand painter
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 (1863–1935), American social reformer
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 Thomas (disambiguation), multiple people
Helena Thopia (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 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

^ M. L. West, Indo-European Poetry and Myth (Oxford University Press, 2007), 230 at Google Books
^ "Helen". Behind the Name.
^ "Popularity of Name". Social Security Administration. Archived from the original on 2018-02-02. Retrieved 2017-01-11.

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[1] M. L. West, Indo-European Poetry and Myth (Oxford University Press, 2007), 230 at Google Books

[BtN-Helen-2] "Helen". Behind the Name.

[3] "Popularity of Name". Social Security Administration. Archived from the original on 2018-02-02. Retrieved 2017-01-11.

[1]

[2]

[3]

Helen (given name)

People

See also

References