Lena

Meaning: Torch; shining light
Origin: Greek — Short form of Helena

Girl's name · #279 in the US (2025) · Comeback

Popularity over time

Lena was #41 in 1884, slipped to #575 by 1993, and has climbed back to #279 today. Roughly 146,000 girls have been named Lena since 1880. In all that time it has never once missed a year of the national records.

Across the states

See where Lena is more common.

Appears in 2020-2025 birth records of 46 states. See the full state-by-state map on this page.

Around the world

Lena is especially popular in Hungary and Austria.

#5 in Hungary (2025) · #7 in Austria (2025) · #21 in Switzerland (2025) · #22 in Poland (2025) · #29 in Croatia (2025) · #31 in France (2025) · #46 in Belgium (2025) · #69 in Netherlands (2025) · #79 in Bosnia (FBiH) (2025) · #80 in Slovenia (2025) · #196 in Scotland (2025) · #246 in Sweden (2025) and 7 more.

Famous Lenas

Lena Meyer-Landrut — German singer (born 1991)
Lena Headey — British actress (born 1973)
Lena Horne — American singer, actress, dancer and activist (1917–2010)
Lena Dunham — American writer, director, actress, and producer (born 1986)
Lena Olin — Swedish stage actress, film actress, beauty pageant contestant, actress (born 1955)

In stories & tradition

Lena (Tracer) — Heroes of the Storm (video game)
Lena Luthor — Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane (comics)
Lena Kaligaris — The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (novel series)

What Lenas become

Among 2,041 notable people named Lena:

Medical professionals appear 2.64× more often than among typical names — e.g. Lena Einhorn, Swedish physician, director and writer.

Spellings & nicknames

Together with its spelling variants Leena (#1115) and Lenna (#1761), Lena would rank around #212 with about 1,400 births last year — the newborns split about 77/15/8 across Lena, Leena, and Lenna.

Similar names: Leena · Helena · Leona · Nina · Cora · Selena

Browse more girl names — popularity, trends and eras for 5,700+ American names, free.

About · Privacy Policy · Terms of Service