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Jelena

#5,029 in 2025Girls' name

To shine, warm, smoulder, burn, through Єлена

Jelena has been given to 1,633 babies in the U.S. since 1959. In 2025 it ranked #5,029 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 2017, with 68 recorded.

Babies named Jelena, 2025

1 in 128,000

Jelena over time, 1880–2025

Girls
02040608018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Jelena: meaning, origin, and history

To shine, warm, smoulder, burn, through Єлена

Greek and Ancient Greek

What Jelena means

Jelena belongs to the name family reached through Jelena → Єлена → Еле́на → Ἑλένη. Its meaning is “to shine, warm, smoulder, burn”.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

Borrowed from Bulgarian, Macedonian, and Russian Еле́на (Jeléna) and Pannonian Rusyn Єлена (Jelena), from Latin Helena, from Ancient Greek Ἑλένη (Helénē). Doublet of Helen and Ellen.

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Jelena (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Jelena is used in English, Estonian, Finnish, German, Ingrian, Lithuanian, Old Czech and Serbo-Croatian and additional language sections. Its origins include Greek and Ancient Greek.

Jelena comes through bg,mk,ru Еле́на, Pannonian Rusyn Єлена, Latin Helena and Ancient Greek Ἑλένη.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Еле́на, Єлена, Helen, Helena, Ellen, Helene and Ἑλένη.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Jelena is pronounced /jɛˈleɪnə/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 1,633 girls were recorded with the name Jelena between 1959 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 68 in 2017; its best national rank was #2,583 in 2017.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #3,807 in 2020 to #5,029 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #3,320 in 2015 to #5,029 in 2025.

How common is Jelena?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 128,000
26 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 61,800
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025
#5,029
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
88,382 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Jelena sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 88,382 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Jelena. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Jelenas were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Jelena was born before 2008 — so the typical Jelena is around 17 today.

Median birth year
2008
About 17 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
32.9% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
69.7%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
1,633
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 32.9% of all recorded uses (537).

Is Jelena rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
−605
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
−1,222
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−1,709
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.53×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
38.2%
Peak was 2017 (68)
Years since peak
8
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
15.6% average annual change
Best rank ever
#2,583
2017

Spellings of Jelena

Jelena is not the most common spelling — Helen is, with 52.8% against Jelena's 0.08%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Jelena is used

Across 1910–2025, Jelena was most concentrated in California — about 1 in 100,000 girls, against 1 in 170,241 across all states with data. It was least common in Wisconsin (1 in —).

01 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in 100,000
  2. 2Florida1 in 100,000
  3. 3Illinois1 in 100,000
  4. 4Texas1 in 100,000
  5. 5Louisiana1 in —
  6. 6Michigan1 in —
  7. 7North Carolina1 in —
  8. 8New Jersey1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Jelena has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Jelena around the world

Where Jelena ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1996–2025
    #5,927
    in 2025
  • France
    1968–2025
    #2,093
    in 2025
  • Norway
    1880–2010
    #580
    in 2010
  • Canada
    1991–2022
    #3,322
    in 2022
  • South Australia
    1953–2013
    #818
    in 2013

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Norway, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. SSB, CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Jelena by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#5,029
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 1,222
Best rank ever
#2,583
2017
Peak year
2017
68 that year
First recorded
1959
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
1,633
Count in 2025
26

Names similar to Jelena

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

JelaniYelenaAlvenaJelissaAmeenaVerenaMarenaAllenaMelenaDelenaLavenaJolenaJalenaDalenaJelisaSarenaEllenaKalenaArlenaJelinaSirenaRaenaKarenaMeena

Sibling names for Jelena

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Jelena

Top names of 2017, Jelena's peak yearThe 2010s in fullOther names that peaked in 2017Girls' names starting with JCroatian & Serbian Girl Names