Elena Name Meaning, Origin, Popularity, Girl Names Like Elena

Elena Name Origin: Greek
Pronunciation: el-ay-nah
See what 26 people think about Elena

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Elena Name Meaning

With a meaning like “shining light,” it’s no surprise that parents are loving Elena. A variant of Helen, Elena hails from Greek roots. She’s a beautiful pick with depth and history, worn by actresses, opera singers, and more.

A mature pick with a girlish side, Elena easily overcomes the aging obstacle. She avoids the cutesy vibes seen with some names as well as the matronly feel of others. She’s mature enough for the boardroom yet light enough for a little one playing dolls. She also comes with a few nicknames to wear throughout life like Elle, Ellie, and Lena.

Elena is very much a sweet spot name, remaining a familiar face that’s not too popular. She’s easy to say and pronounce, a simple choice for parents looking for something common but not overused. Some other names in this category include Vanessa and Cara.

Elena offers a flexibility that’s rare in names, blending in various backgrounds with ease. She isn’t restricted in any way, fitting in a variety of styles. She can easily be seen as classic or modern, especially if the nickname Lanie is used. Elena is also a great way to honor an Elaine or Elizabeth in your life.

As E names for girls continue to dot the charts, Elena is in great company. She’s also part of the El- name trend seen with Eliana and Ella.

Elena Name Popularity

How popular is the name Elena? Here’s everything we know.

Year	Rank	# Births	% Births
1910	—	31	0.0088%
1911	—	60	0.0161%
1912	—	50	0.0099%
1913	—	72	0.0127%
1914	—	93	0.0133%
1915	—	117	0.0129%
1916	—	126	0.013%
1917	—	125	0.0125%
1918	—	158	0.0147%
1919	—	129	0.0123%
1920	—	136	0.0122%
1921	—	174	0.0152%
1922	—	162	0.0145%
1923	—	169	0.0151%
1924	—	168	0.0145%
1925	—	178	0.0157%
1926	—	187	0.017%
1927	—	188	0.017%
1928	—	209	0.0195%
1929	—	158	0.0153%
1930	—	169	0.0162%
1931	—	144	0.0146%
1932	—	159	0.0161%
1933	—	130	0.014%
1934	—	135	0.014%
1935	—	104	0.0107%
1936	—	124	0.0129%
1937	—	108	0.011%
1938	—	123	0.012%
1939	—	88	0.0087%
1940	—	95	0.0089%
1941	—	157	0.0139%
1942	—	157	0.0124%
1943	—	179	0.0137%
1944	—	180	0.0145%
1945	—	169	0.0139%
1946	—	199	0.0135%
1947	—	197	0.0118%
1948	—	236	0.0148%
1949	—	205	0.0127%
1950	—	216	0.0134%
1951	—	216	0.0127%
1952	—	220	0.0126%
1953	—	258	0.0146%
1954	—	290	0.0159%
1955	—	354	0.0192%
1956	—	304	0.0161%
1957	—	369	0.0192%
1958	—	393	0.0208%
1959	—	351	0.0185%
1960	—	387	0.0204%
1961	—	336	0.0178%
1962	—	374	0.0204%
1963	—	434	0.0242%
1964	—	446	0.0253%
1965	—	409	0.025%
1966	—	470	0.0301%
1967	—	460	0.0303%
1968	—	424	0.0282%
1969	—	479	0.0311%
1970	—	453	0.0285%
1971	—	456	0.0303%
1972	—	441	0.0324%
1973	—	376	0.029%
1974	—	498	0.0383%
1975	—	463	0.036%
1976	—	471	0.0365%
1977	—	491	0.0364%
1978	—	529	0.0393%
1979	—	581	0.0412%
1980	—	596	0.0408%
1981	—	587	0.0399%
1982	—	570	0.0381%
1983	—	517	0.035%
1984	—	486	0.0327%
1985	—	700	0.0461%
1986	—	601	0.0398%
1987	—	558	0.0366%
1988	—	554	0.0356%
1989	—	689	0.0427%
1990	—	706	0.0426%
1991	—	695	0.0426%
1992	—	763	0.0478%
1993	—	782	0.0502%
1994	—	882	0.0575%
1995	—	908	0.0602%
1996	—	902	0.0602%
1997	—	942	0.0637%
1998	—	1,097	0.0733%
1999	—	1,452	0.097%
2000	—	1,336	0.0875%
2001	—	1,373	0.0911%
2002	—	1,327	0.0886%
2003	—	1,443	0.0949%
2004	—	1,563	0.1025%
2005	—	1,587	0.1038%
2006	—	1,852	0.1183%
2007	—	1,725	0.1093%
2008	—	1,607	0.104%
2009	—	1,653	0.1106%
2010	—	1,867	0.1296%
2011	—	1,922	0.1349%
2012	—	2,249	0.1578%
2013	—	2,385	0.1675%
2014	—	2,603	0.1787%
2015	—	2,882	0.1981%
2016	—	3,172	0.22%
2017	—	3,857	0.2763%
2018	—	3,748	0.2728%
2019	—	3,911	0.2889%
2020	—	3,844	0.302%
2021	—	4,014	0.3284%
2022	—	4,266	0.3234%
2023	—	4,265	0.3295%

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Data via SSA.gov.

Names Like Elena

If you like Elena, you’ll love these other names like Elena.

What names are diminutives of Elena?

A diminutive is a name that’s like Elena sounds, you might also like these names that sound like Elena, but shorter.

Name	Meaning	Origin
El	Sun ray, shining light	Greek
Ella	Other goddess	Hebrew
Elle	She	French
Ellie	Shortened form of El- names	English
Laney	Path, roadway	English
Lena	Woman from Magdala	Hebrew

What names are variants of Elena?

Mix it up with these names that are a variation of the name Elena.

Name	Meaning	Origin
Alena	Tower	Russian
Elaina	Shining light	Greek
Elaine	Sun ray, shining light	Greek
Elana	Tree	Hebrew
Eleana	God has answered; tree	Hebrew
Eleena	Sun ray, shining light	Greek
Elen	Light	Greek
Elene	Sun ray, shining light	Greek

Eleni	Sun ray, shining light	Greek
Elina	Sun ray, shining light	Greek
Ellena	Man's defender; sun ray, shining light	Greek
Elona	Oak tree; light	Hungarian
Ilena		English

What names sound like Elena?

If you like how Elena sounds, you might also like these names that sound like Elena.

Name	Meaning	Origin
Aleah	Rising, ascending	Hebrew
Elizabeth	God is my oath	Hebrew
Elodie	Marsh flower	Greek
Elora	Sun ray, shining light	Greek
Elspeth	An exotic variant of Elizabeth.	Scottish
Helena	Sun ray, shining light	Greek

What names are similar to Elena?

Find a name that’s like Elena, but just a little bit different.

Name	Meaning	Origin
Alexa	Defender of man	Greek
Alexandra	Defender of man	Greek
Diana	Heavenly and divine	Latin
Gemma	Precious stone	Italian

Juniper	Juniper tree	English
Lucille	Of the light	French
Luna	The moon	Latin
Nora	Honorable one	Latin
Penelope	Weaver	Greek
Sophia	Wisdom	Greek

Lists With Elena

Find inspiration in these baby girl name lists featuring the name Elena.

Siblings of Elena

Mamas with kids named Elena also have kids with these names.

Name	Meaning	Origin
Robert	Bright fame	German
Nikola
Elisa	God's promise	Hebrew
Esperanza	Hope	Spanish
Christopher	Bearing Christ	English
Stefanie	Crown, garland	Greek
Damon	One who tames, subdues	Greek
Ezekiel	God will strengthen	Hebrew
Ella	Other goddess	Hebrew

Share Your Thoughts

26 Comments

Abigail Sep 12 at 8:39 am

Good!

Reply
Angela Jan 4 at 9:35 pm

It took us only 5 mins to pick out this name for our daughter. It sounded right and felt right, and it has the meaning of bright light, which is something we felt about toward her, so everything was perfect.

Reply
Crystal Oct 7 at 8:44 am

Pretty

Reply
Ivy+Covarrubias Oct 3 at 11:52 am

I chose Elena because I was a huge Vampire diaries fan and I loved that character in the show, she was so beautiful and everyone loved and cared for her so I chose to give that name to my little girl ?

Reply
Crystal Sep 22 at 7:12 am

Just thought it was a pretty name

Reply
Tiffany Aug 15 at 9:08 pm

Vampire diaries

Reply
I'm also a Elena Apr 25 at 5:53 pm

Elena is the best name ever!

Reply
Jessica Feb 12 at 9:27 am

Grandma’s name and love the sound and meaning (light ?)

Reply
Elena Nov 10 at 6:54 am

My name is Elena too and I think its beautiful!! Go Elena’s

Reply
- Elena Aug 28 at 3:42 am
  
  go Elena
  
  Reply
Kat Nov 3 at 11:21 am

Elena is a European version of Helen which I prefer the sound of. It evokes light and is a soft and feminine classic name. But we also use Alyona as a nickname!

Reply
Serena Aug 23 at 12:30 pm

She is named after my grandma Elaine. We call her Ellie.

Reply
Jabneel May 23 at 7:16 am

Our first born was named Esperanza and so my husband wanted to continue the easy and I wanted to continue it being on the Spanish side. Our first daughter’s name met hope and we wanted another spiritual application type name and Elena means joy and mercy.

Reply
Elena Apr 21 at 12:46 am

I absolutely love my name! Matches my personality!

Reply
- Elena May 15 at 2:41 pm
  
  Hello my name is Elena and I love my name too it is perfect and in my family I am the only one with the initials initials EME! (: ?
  
  Reply
Laura Apr 16 at 10:08 am

It’s always been my favourite name! I love how it sounds

Reply
Ashley Mar 16 at 7:24 am

Elena June Vee. Named after all of her grandmothers. Elena is my grandmas name in Spanish. She was born on her birthday, and they both weighed the same at birth. 11 lbs! They’ll have a joint birthday party this year as my grandma turns 90, and Elena turns 1! June is my mothers name. And Vee is short for her other grandma.

Reply
Alma Harp Feb 11 at 8:56 am

Easy to pronounce in English and Spanish.

Reply
Jessica Sep 27 at 9:12 am

Elena means bright light

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Haimie Apr 19 at 6:07 am

It’s a beautiful name

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Carly Mar 31 at 10:28 am

My husband and I chose Elena because it means “shining light” or “bright one”. When we were trying to conceive, I prayed for a little beacon of light for our family and to add to this world so it seemed only fitting. Plus there are plenty of adorable nickname options!

Reply
Jessica Mar 10 at 1:47 pm

I named Elena after my mom who passed away.

Reply
- Elena Apr 22 at 6:13 pm
  
  My name is Elena since I’m From Croatia I’m really happy to have this name and btw,I’m 9 yrs old
  
  Reply
Michelle Jun 24 at 11:06 am

It’s a spin off the name of my grandmother Elaine who was very special to me and I’ve always wanted to name my daughter after her in some way. I like that Elena is not real common and its also very simple and sweet. The Hebrew translation and meaning is shining light and is pronounced as eh-LEH-nah.

Reply
Chiara Jun 8 at 3:12 pm

My great aunts name was Elaine and I wanted to name my daughter after her with a more modernized version. So I chose Elena to honor my great aunt and have a name that isn’t so common today.

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Laura Apr 11 at 9:32 pm

We picked the name Elena Renee for my daughter because we loved the meaning of the name , shining light and Renee is my middle name. She lived up to this name on the day of her birth. After a long hard labor through night, she was my joy that came in the morning with the light as she was starting to be born! But we suffered complications and she went into distress and had to be delivered quickly and forcefully! She was able to be Resuscitated and saved, thus living up to her middle name Renee, born again! We call her Laney for short. She is a strong girl with a content and sweet personality!

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Elena