Helena

See also: helena and Helēna

English

Etymology

A Latinate form of Helen, from Latin Helena.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhɛlənə/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

Proper noun

Helena

1. A female given name from Ancient Greek.
   • c. 1595–1596, William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act III, scene ii]:

     Stay gentle Helena, heare my excuſe: / My loue, my life, my ſoule, faire Helena.

2. The capital city of Montana, United States and the county seat of Lewis and Clark County.
3. A city in Alabama.
4. A city in Arkansas.
5. A town in Oklahoma.
6. A village in Ohio.
7. A census-designated place in Mississippi.
8. A hamlet in New York.
9. A ghost town in Texas.

Derived terms

• Helena-West Helena
• McRae-Helena
• Saint Helena, St. Helena

Anagrams

• Lehane, anhele

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Catalan

Proper noun

Helena f

1. Helena

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Cebuano

Etymology

From English Helena, from Latin Helena.

Proper noun

Helena

1. a female given name from Latin

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Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈɦɛlɛna]

Proper noun

Helena f

1. A female given name, equivalent to English Helen.

Related terms

• See Helén
• Ilona

Further reading

• Helena in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
• Helena in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989

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Danish

Etymology

A Latinate variant of Danish Helene (“Helen”).

Proper noun

Helena

1. A female given name.

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Dutch

Etymology

Ultimately from Latin Helena, from Ancient Greek Ἑλένη (Helénē).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɦeːˈleːnaː/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: He‧le‧na

Proper noun

Helena f

1. A female given name, a Latinate variant of Heleen (=Helen).

Related terms

• Heleen, Leen

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Estonian

Etymology

From Latin Helena, from Ancient Greek Ἑλένη (Helénē). Doublet of Jelena.

Proper noun

Helena

1. A female given name, equivalent to English Helen.

Related terms

• Heleene, Elina, Elle, Ellen, Hele, Helen, Heleri, Heli, Helina, Helle, Ilona

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Faroese

Etymology

Ultimately, from Ancient Greek Ἑλένη (Helénē), cognate with English Helen.

Proper noun

Helena f

1. A female given name

Usage notes

Matronymics

• son of Helena: Helenuson
• daughter of Helena: Helenudóttir

Declension

	Singular
	Indefinite
Nominative	Helena
Accusative	Helenu
Dative	Helenu
Genitive	Helenu

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Finnish

Etymology

From Ancient Greek Ἑλένη (Helénē), cognate with English Helen. Doublet of Elina, Helinä, Elena, and Jelena.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhelenɑ/, [ˈhe̞le̞nɑ]
• Rhymes: -elenɑ
• Syllabification: He‧le‧na

Proper noun

Helena

1. A female given name.
   • 1984 Veronica Pimenoff, Loistava Helena, Tammi, →ISBN, page 55:

     Se ei koskaan unohtanut Helenan nimipäivää, vaan päivitteli joka vuosi typerään tapaansa että Helena oli niitä nimiä jotka sukupolvesta toiseen säilyttivät asemansa. Aika oudosti sanottu Maggi-tädiltä. No, olihan noita Helenoita.

   • 1991 Orvokki Kangas, Marraslapsi, Karisto, →ISBN, page 17:

     Eeva kysyi Matiakselta, tuntuisiko tästä turhamaiselta tai herraskaiselta, jos lapsen kutsumanimeksi pantaisiin Helena. Hän kertoi myös kotikylän nimikkokukasta. Hänen rakkautensa kukkaan oli saanut alkunsa Helenan tarinasta.

     —Aivan hyvä nimi, sanoi Matias, —sopisikohan siihen vielä Loviisa-äidin nimi?

Declension

Inflection of Helena (Kotus type 12/kulkija, no gradation)
nominative		Helena	Helenat
genitive		Helenan	Helenoiden Helenoitten
partitive		Helenaa	Helenoita
illative		Helenaan	Helenoihin
		singular	plural
nominative		Helena	Helenat
accusative	nom.	Helena	Helenat
	gen.	Helenan
genitive		Helenan	Helenoiden Helenoitten Helenainrare
partitive		Helenaa	Helenoita
inessive		Helenassa	Helenoissa
elative		Helenasta	Helenoista
illative		Helenaan	Helenoihin
adessive		Helenalla	Helenoilla
ablative		Helenalta	Helenoilta
allative		Helenalle	Helenoille
essive		Helenana	Helenoina
translative		Helenaksi	Helenoiksi
instructive		—	Helenoin
abessive		Helenatta	Helenoitta
comitative		—	Helenoineen

Possessive forms of Helena (type kulkija)
possessor	singular	plural
1st person	Helenani	Helenamme
2nd person	Helenasi	Helenanne
3rd person	Helenansa

Related terms

• Elina, Ellen, Elli, Heleena, Heli, Helinä, Helli, Hellin, Ilona, Leena

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German

Etymology

Latinate variant of German Helene (“Helen”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈhɛˌlena]

• Audio (Austria)

  (file)

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: He‧le‧na

Proper noun

Helena

1. A female given name

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Hawaiian

Etymology

Borrowed from English Helen.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /heˈle.na/, [hɛˈlɛnə]

Proper noun

Helena

1. A female given name from English.

Related terms

• ʻElena
• Helene

References

• Mary Kawena Pukui - Samuel H. Elbert, Hawaiian Dictionary, University of Hawaii Press 1971, page 185
• Hawaii State Archives: Marriage records Helena occurs in 19th century marriage records as the only name (mononym) of 6 women.

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Icelandic

Proper noun

Helena f

1. A female given name

Declension

declension of Helena

f-w1	singular
	indefinite
nominative	Helena
accusative	Helenu
dative	Helenu
genitive	Helenu

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Latin

Alternative forms

• Helene

Etymology

From Ancient Greek Ἑλένη (Helénē).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈhe.le.na/, [ˈhɛɫ̪ɛnä]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈe.le.na/, [ˈɛːlenä]

Proper noun

Helena f (genitive Helenae); first declension

1. Helen

Declension

First-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	Helena	Helenae
Genitive	Helenae	Helenārum
Dative	Helenae	Helenīs
Accusative	Helenam	Helenās
Ablative	Helenā	Helenīs
Vocative	Helena	Helenae

Descendants

• Eastern Romance:
  • Romanian: Ileana
    • → Italian: Ileana
    • → Spanish: Ileana
• Italian: Elena
• Old French: Elene, Elaine
  • → English: Elaine
• Old Portuguese: [Term?]
  • Portuguese: Elena, Helena
• Old Spanish: [Term?]
  • Spanish: Elena
• Sardinian: Elene

From Italian and Spanish Elena

• → English: Elena
• → Czech: Elena
• → Danish: Elena
• → Finnish: Elena
• → German: Elena
• → Latvian: Elēna, Elena
• → Norwegian: Elena
• → Swedish: Elena

Medieval borrowings

• → Danish: Elin
• → English: Ellen
  • → Hawaiian: ʻElena
• → Faroese: Elin
• → Finnish: Elina, Eliina
• → Hungarian: Ilona
  • → Czech: Ilona
  • → Estonian: Ilona
  • → Finnish: Ilona
  • → German: Ilona
  • → Latvian: Ilona
  • → Lithuanian: Ilona
  • → Polish: Ilona
• → Irish: Léan
• → Latvian: Elīna
• → Lithuanian: Elena
• → Norwegian: Elin
• → Swedish: Elin, Elina
• → Welsh: Elen

Modern borrowings

• → Alemannic German: Helene
• → Basque: Helena
• → Breton: Elena
• → Catalan: Helena
• → Czech: Helena
• → Danish: Helena, Helene
• → Dutch: Helena, Heleen
• → English: Helena
• → English: Helen
• → Estonian: Helena, Helina
• → Faroese: Helena
• → Finnish: Helena
• → French: Hélène
  • → Armenian: Էլեն (Ēlen)
  • → English: Helen
  • → Swedish: Hélène
• → German: Helena, Helene
• → Greek: Ελενα (Elena)
• → Hungarian: Heléna, Helené
• → Karelian: Heta
• → Latvian: Helēna
• → Lithuanian: Helenė
• → Northern Sami: Helená, Heleainná
• → Norwegian: Helena, Helene
• → Polish: Helena
• → Portuguese: Helena
• → Romanian: Elena
• → Spanish: Helena
• → Slovak: Helena, Elena
• → Slovene: Helena
• → Swedish: Helena, Helene
• → Yiddish: העלענע‎ (Helene)

References

“Helena”, in Charlton T[homas] Lewis; Charles [Lancaster] Short (1879) […] A New Latin Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.; Cincinnati, Ohio; Chicago, Ill.: American Book Company; Oxford: Clarendon Press.

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Norwegian

Etymology

Latinate variant of Norwegian Helene (“Helen”).

Proper noun

Helena

1. A female given name.

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Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /xɛˈlɛ.na/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛna
• Syllabification: He‧le‧na

Proper noun

Helena f

1. A female given name, equivalent to English Helen.

Declension

Declension of Helena

	singular	plural
nominative	Helena	Heleny
genitive	Heleny	Helen
dative	Helenie	Helenom
accusative	Helenę	Heleny
instrumental	Heleną	Helenami
locative	Helenie	Helenach
vocative	Heleno	Heleny

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Portuguese

Alternative forms

• Elena

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin Helena, from Ancient Greek Ἑλένη (Helénē).

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /e.ˈle.nɐ/

Proper noun

Helena f

1. A female given name from Ancient Greek, equivalent to English Helen

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Slovak

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɦɛlɛna/

Proper noun

Helena f (genitive Heleny, nominative plural Heleny, declension pattern of žena)

1. A female given name.

Declension

Declension of Helena

	singular	plural
nominative	Helena	Heleny
genitive	Heleny	Helien
dative	Helene	Helenám
accusative	Helenu	Heleny
locative	Helene	Helenách
instrumental	Helenou	Helenami

Derived terms

• Helenka, Helenôčka
• Hela, Helka
• Heluša, Heluška
• Ela, Elka
• Eluša, Eluška

Further reading

• Helena in Slovak dictionaries at slovnik.juls.savba.sk

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Swedish

Etymology

From Ancient Greek Ἑλένη (Helénē), cognate with English Helen. First recorded in Sweden in the 12th century.

Proper noun

Helena c (genitive Helenas)

1. A female given name.

Related terms

• Elin, Elina, Ellen, Elna, Helen, Helén, Helene, Hélène, Lena

References

• Roland Otterbjörk: Svenska förnamn, Almqvist & Wiksell 1996, →ISBN
• [1] Statistiska centralbyrån and Sture Allén, Staffan Wåhlin, Förnamnsboken, Norstedts 1995, →ISBN: 82 717 females with the given name Helena living in Sweden on December 31st, 2010, with the frequency peak in the 1970s. Accessed on 19 June 2011.