Helene

Ancient Greek form of HELEN, as well as the modern Scandinavian and German form.

HELEN   female   English, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Greek Mythology (Anglicized)
English form of the Greek ‘Ελενη (Helene), probably from Greek ‘ελενη (helene) "torch" or "corposant", or possibly related to σεληνη (selene) "moon". In Greek mythology Helen was the daughter of Zeus and Leda, whose kidnapping by Paris was the cause of the Trojan War. The name was also borne by the 4th-century Saint Helena, mother of the Roman emperor Constantine, who supposedly found the True Cross during a trip to Jerusalem.

The name was originally used among early Christians in honour of the saint, as opposed to the classical character. In England it was commonly spelled Ellen during the Middle Ages, and the spelling Helen was not regularly used until after the Renaissance. A famous bearer was Helen Keller (1880-1968), an American author and lecturer who was both blind and deaf.
EQUIVALENTS
ANCIENT GREEK: Helena, Helene
ARTHURIAN ROMANCE: Elaine
BULGARIAN: Elena
CROATIAN: Helena, Jelena
CZECH: Helena
DANISH: Elin, Helen, Helena, Helene
DUTCH: Heleen, Helena
ENGLISH: Elaina, Elaine, Ellen, Helen, Helena, Hellen
ESTONIAN: Helena, Jelena
FINNISH: Eliina, Elina, Heleena, Helena
FRENCH: Hélène
GEORGIAN: Elene
GERMAN: Elena, Helena, Helene
GREEK MYTHOLOGY: Helen, Helena, Helene
GREEK: Eleni
HUNGARIAN: Heléna
ICELANDIC: Helena
IRISH: Léan
ITALIAN: Elena, Ileana
LATVIAN: Elīna, Helēna, Jeļena, Jelena
LITHUANIAN: Elena, Jelena
MACEDONIAN: Elena
MEDIEVAL SLAVIC: Elena
NORWEGIAN: Elin, Helen, Helena, Helene
POLISH: Helena
PORTUGUESE: Helena
ROMANIAN: Elena, Ileana
RUSSIAN: Elena, Yelena
SERBIAN: Jelena
SLOVAK: Elena, Helena
SLOVENE: Helena, Jelena
SPANISH: Elena, Ileana
SWEDISH: Elin, Elina, Helen, Helena, Helene
UKRAINIAN: Olena
WELSH: Elen, Elin
DIMINUTIVES AND SHORT FORMS
AFRICAN AMERICAN: Shelena
CROATIAN: Jela, Jelica, Jelka
CZECH: Alena, Lenka
DANISH: Eli, Ella, Lena, Lene
DUTCH: Heleentje
ENGLISH: Ella, Elle, Ellie, Elly, Lainey, Laney, Lena, Nell, Nelle, Nellie, Nelly
ESTONIAN: Leena
FINNISH: Ella, Heli, Leena
GERMAN: Alena, Lena, Lene, Leni
NORWEGIAN: Eli, Ella, Lena, Lene
POLISH: Lena
PORTUGUESE: Lena
ROMANIAN: Ilinca, Lenuța
RUSSIAN: Alyona, Lena
SERBIAN: Jela, Jelica, Jelka
SLOVAK: Alena, Jela, Lenka
SLOVENE: Alena, Alenka, Jelka
SWEDISH: Ella, Lena
UKRAINIAN: Lesya
OTHER FORMS
CZECH: Ilona
ENGLISH: Alaina, Alayna, Nelda
FINNISH: Ilona
GERMAN: Ilona
HUNGARIAN: Ili, Ilike, Ilka, Ilona, Ilonka
LATVIAN: Ilona
LITHUANIAN: Ilona
POLISH: Ilona
SCOTTISH: Eilidh