ninan.org

Helen

Girls' name · Early 20th-century perennial

Living in the US
~223,500 survival-weighted estimate
2025 rank
#461 among girls
Births in 2025
668 1,027,307 since 1880
Typical age
74 years, median

Helen popularity over time

Helen rank by birth year, 1880–2025Helen ranked #35 in 1880 and #461 in 2025. Its best rank in the period was #2, in 1900.#10#100#461best #2 in 190018901920195019802010
Rank among US baby names by birth year, 1880–2025. Lower is more popular; the scale is logarithmic so the top of the chart is not compressed.

The high point was 1918: 36,228 births recorded as Helen. It is present from 1880, the first year of the record. Helen has spent 79 years inside the national top 100.

In 2025 it ranked #461 with 668 births. Year on year the rank dropped by 36.

Babies named Helen per yearPeaks at 36,228 births in 1918.36,228 in 1918018901920195019802010
Recorded US births by year. The peak is labelled; the axis starts at zero.

How many people are named Helen?

An estimated 223,500 living Americans are called Helen. That is out of 1,027,307 recorded births since 1880.

This is a survival-weighted estimate, not a headcount: every recorded birth year is multiplied by the chance someone born that year is still alive, using the SSA period life table. How the estimate works.

How old is the average Helen?

The typical living Helen is 74 years old. More of them were born in the 1940s than in any other decade. By the site’s era rules that makes Helen a early 20th-century perennial name.

Your Helen

Ages of living people named HelenHalf of living Helens are older than 74 and half younger.median 74020406080100
Estimated living bearers by age today. Each bar is a birth year, weighted by the chance someone born then is still alive.

Where Helen is most common

The name is concentrated in District of Columbia, at 4.7× the national rate. Maryland, Virginia and Alabama follow.

Where Helen is used more than average5 states use the name Helen more than the national average.Alaska: not over-representedAKMaine: not over-representedMEVermont: not over-representedVTNew Hampshire: not over-representedNHWashington: not over-representedWAIdaho: not over-representedIDMontana: not over-representedMTNorth Dakota: not over-representedNDMinnesota: not over-representedMNIllinois: not over-representedILWisconsin: not over-representedWIMichigan: not over-representedMINew York: not over-representedNYOregon: not over-representedORNevada: not over-representedNVWyoming: not over-representedWYSouth Dakota: not over-representedSDIowa: not over-representedIAIndiana: not over-representedINOhio: not over-representedOHPennsylvania: not over-representedPANew Jersey: not over-representedNJConnecticut: not over-representedCTRhode Island: not over-representedRICalifornia: not over-representedCAUtah: not over-representedUTColorado: not over-representedCONebraska: not over-representedNEMissouri: not over-representedMOKentucky: not over-representedKYWest Virginia: not over-representedWVVirginia: 2.0× the national rateVAMaryland: 2.2× the national rateMDDelaware: not over-representedDEMassachusetts: not over-representedMAArizona: not over-representedAZNew Mexico: not over-representedNMKansas: not over-representedKSArkansas: 1.6× the national rateARTennessee: not over-representedTNNorth Carolina: not over-representedNCSouth Carolina: not over-representedSCDistrict of Columbia: 4.7× the national rateDCOklahoma: not over-representedOKLouisiana: not over-representedLAMississippi: not over-representedMSAlabama: 1.6× the national rateALGeorgia: not over-representedGAHawaii: not over-representedHITexas: not over-representedTXFlorida: not over-representedFL
Same as national3× or more
Location quotient, 2016–2025. Shaded states use the name more than the country does, relative to their own births. Exact figures are in the table below.
States where Helen is over-represented, 2016–2025. The location quotient compares the state's share of the name with the national share.
StateBirthsvs national rate
District of Columbia 64 4.7×
Maryland 221 2.2×
Virginia 318 2.0×
Alabama 141 1.6×
Arkansas 80 1.6×

Helen in England and Wales

ONS recorded 52 births named Helen in 2025, ranking it #705.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Counts below three are suppressed by ONS.

Where the name Helen comes from

From French Hélène, from Latin Helena, from Ancient Greek Ἑλένη. Doublet of Elaine.

Etymology summarised from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0. Wiktionary entry.

Notable people named Helen

Ordered by how many Wikipedia language editions have an article about them — a measure of reach, not of importance.
NameKnown forYearsEditions
Helen Keller American deafblind author, political activist, lecturer, scholar 1880–1968 166
Helen Mirren British actress 1945 102
Helen Clark Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1999 to 2008 1950 77
Helen Hunt American actress 1963 76
Helen Hayes American actress 1900–1993 71
Helen McCrory British actress 1968–2021 51
Helen Fielding English novelist and screenwriter 1958 44
Helen Sharman British chemist who became the first Briton in space 1963 43
Photo credits (7)

People and dates from Wikidata (CC0), limited to those with an English Wikipedia article who are known by this name as their first name.

Related pages

Get this data

Every number on this page is available as JSON: /api/name/helen.json. Free to use with attribution (CC BY 4.0).