Helena

H4E1L1E1N1A1
/ˈhɛlənə/Southern US, especially/hɛˈliːnə/

proper noun

A female given name from Ancient Greek.

OriginLatin Helena →
CommonScrabble 9
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Meanings

proper noun
  1. A female given name from Ancient Greek.

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

    c. 1595–1596 (date written), 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, [Act III, scene ii]
    1 more example

    The family tree boasts an astonishing array of celebrated historical figures from the prophet Isaiah to Sir Isaiah Berlin, from Felix Mendelssohn to Karl Marx and Moses Montefiore. The list also includes Yehudi Menuhin, Helena Rubinstein, the Rothschilds and even Rosenstein himself.

    2004 October 24, Bill Gladstone, “The oldest family in the world”, in Jewish Telegraphic Agency
  2. A transliteration of the Pannonian Rusyn female given name Гелена (Helena), equivalent to Helen.
  3. A number of places in the United States:
    1. The capital city of Montana, and the county seat of Lewis and Clark County.
    2. A city in Jefferson County and Shelby County, Alabama.
    3. A city in Helena-West Helena, Phillips County, Arkansas.
    4. A ghost town in Trinity County, California.
    5. A former city in Georgia, now part of McRae-Helena.
    6. An unincorporated community in Tensas Parish, Louisiana.
    7. A township in Antrim County, Michigan.
    8. An unincorporated community in Sand Beach Township, Huron County, Michigan.
    9. An unincorporated community in Turin Township, Marquette County, Michigan.
    10. A township in Scott County, Minnesota.
    11. A census-designated place in Jackson County, Mississippi.
    12. An unincorporated community in Andrew County, Missouri.
    13. A hamlet in the town of Brasher, St. Lawrence County, New York.
    14. A village in Sandusky Township, Sandusky County, Ohio.
    15. A town in Alfalfa County, Oklahoma.
    16. A census-designated place in Newberry County, South Carolina.
    17. A ghost town in Karnes County, Texas.
    18. An unincorporated community in the town of Arena, Iowa County, Wisconsin.
  4. A village in the Demerara-Mahaica region, Guyana.

Origin

  1. LatinHelena
  2. EnglishHelena

A Latinate form of Helen, borrowed from Latin Helena.

More words from Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

LehaneHaelenanhele
Cite this entry
APA

Helena. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Helena

MLA

“Helena.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Helena. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Helena,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Helena.

Source: Helena on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.