Helena
Meaning and origin
From Ancient Greek Ἑλένη (Helénē), cognate with English Helen. First recorded in Sweden in the 12th century.
Source: Wiktionary, Swedish entry for Helena (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Helena has been fairly steady over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 1998. The figures are for this exact spelling; other spellings of the name are counted on their own.
Years with fewer than two babies (fewer than ten before 2004) show as zero in the chart and as – in the table.
Show the figures
| Year | Girls |
|---|---|
| 1998 | 48 |
| 1999 | 35 |
| 2000 | 36 |
| 2001 | 25 |
| 2002 | 25 |
| 2003 | 34 |
| 2004 | 23 |
| 2005 | 20 |
| 2006 | 20 |
| 2007 | 23 |
| 2008 | 24 |
| 2009 | 29 |
| 2010 | 28 |
| 2011 | 32 |
| 2012 | 24 |
| 2013 | 28 |
| 2014 | 32 |
| 2015 | 23 |
| 2016 | 29 |
| 2017 | 31 |
| 2018 | 33 |
| 2019 | 36 |
| 2020 | 24 |
| 2021 | 27 |
| 2022 | 17 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Women and girls |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 26,554 |
| 2000 | 26,724 |
| 2001 | 26,934 |
| 2002 | 27,058 |
| 2003 | 27,263 |
| 2004 | 27,382 |
| 2005 | 27,321 |
| 2006 | 27,365 |
| 2007 | 27,336 |
| 2008 | 27,424 |
| 2009 | 27,429 |
| 2010 | 27,436 |
| 2011 | 27,436 |
| 2012 | 27,402 |
| 2013 | 27,383 |
| 2014 | 27,388 |
| 2015 | 27,373 |
| 2016 | 27,347 |
| 2017 | 27,316 |
| 2018 | 27,310 |
| 2019 | 27,299 |
| 2020 | 27,261 |
Helena in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Helena.Hi! My name is Helena.
- Har du träffat Helena? Hon började jobba här i måndags.Have you met Helena? She started working here on Monday.
- Jag ska fika med Helena i eftermiddag.I'm having coffee with Helena this afternoon.
- Helenas mamma är lärare.Helena's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Helenas mamma is Helena's mum.
Related names and other spellings
More names
Questions about Helena
How do you pronounce Helena in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Helena from a native speaker's recording.
What does the name Helena mean?
From Ancient Greek Ἑλένη (Helénē), cognate with English Helen. First recorded in Sweden in the 12th century.
How popular is Helena in Sweden?
17 babies were named Helena in 2022. In 2020, 27,261 people in Sweden had Helena as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been fairly steady lately and peaked in 1998 in the years SCB covers (1998–2022).
Popularity figures: Statistics Sweden (SCB), name statistics (BE0001) from the Statistical Database, released as open data under CC0. Each spelling is counted as its own name, as SCB does. SCB's open name statistics end with babies named in 2022 and the population on 31 December 2020; SCB stopped producing name statistics in 2024 and now points to the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) for newer figures.
Origins, IPA and recordings: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), via kaikki.org; recordings from Lingua Libre on Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA). Lingolib is not affiliated with SCB or Wiktionary. Sources last checked 7 October 2026.