Helen

Where Helen comes from

From French Hélène, from Latin Helena, from Ancient Greek Ἑλένη (Helénē). Doublet of Elaine.
— Wiktionary's entry for Helen
  • Ancient Greek
  • 2 syllables
Along the way
  1. 1880
    Helen Keller born
    American deafblind author, political activist, lecturer, scholar
  2. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #35 among girls — 636 babies in the first year on record.
  3. 1918
    Peak, #2
    36,148 babies named Helen — more than any year before or since.
  4. 1931
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #6.
  5. 1945
    Helen Mirren born
    British actress
In the dictionary
  • A female given name from Ancient Greek.
Namesakes
  • Helen Keller · American deafblind author, political activist, lecturer, scholar, 1880–1968
  • Helen Mirren · British actress, born 1945
  • Helen Clark · Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1999 to 2008, born 1950
  • Helen Hunt · American actress, born 1963
  • Helen Hayes · American actress, 1900–1993

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.