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Yelena

#1,807 in 2025Girls' name

To shine, warm, smoulder, burn, through Helena

Yelena has been given to 1,626 babies in the U.S. since 1961. In 2025 it ranked #1,807 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 2022, with 145 recorded.

Babies named Yelena, 2025

1 in 29,600

Yelena over time, 1880–2025

Girls
05010015018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Yelena: meaning, origin, and history

To shine, warm, smoulder, burn, through Helena

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Yelena means

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

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

From Bulgarian, Macedonian, and Russian Еле́на (Jeléna), from Latin Helena, from Ancient Greek Ἑλένη (Helénē). Doublet of Helena.

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

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Yelena is used in English.

Yelena comes through bg,mk,ru Еле́на, Latin Helena and Ancient Greek Ἑλένη.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Helena and Ἑλένη.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 1,626 girls were recorded with the name Yelena between 1961 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 145 in 2022; its best national rank was #1,504 in 2022.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #4,641 in 2020 to #1,807 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #3,912 in 2015 to #1,807 in 2025.

How common is Yelena?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 29,600
112 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 14,300
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025
#1,807
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
20,518 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Yelena 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 5002%

Put another way: gather 20,518 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Yelena. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Yelenas were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Yelena was born before 2012 — so the typical Yelena is around 13 today.

Median birth year
2012
About 13 years old
Biggest decade
2020s
30.2% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
84.0%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
1,626
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2020s — 30.2% of all recorded uses (491).

Is Yelena 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
+699
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
+2,834
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
+2,105
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
2.87×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
77.2%
Peak was 2022 (145)
Years since peak
3
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
33.8% average annual change
Best rank ever
#1,504
2022

Spellings of Yelena

Yelena is not the most common spelling — Helen is, with 59.2% against Yelena's 0.09%.

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 Yelena is used

Across 2016–2025, Yelena was most concentrated in New Mexico — about 1 in 11,111 girls, against 1 in 20,614 across all states with data. It was least common in Florida (1 in 50,000).

29 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1New Mexico1 in 11,111
  2. 2California1 in 14,286
  3. 3Texas1 in 16,667
  4. 4Arizona1 in 20,000
  5. 5Colorado1 in 20,000
  6. 6North Carolina1 in 33,333
  7. 7New York1 in 33,333
  8. 8Florida1 in 50,000

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.

Yelena around the world

Where Yelena 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
    1996–2024
    #5,892
    in 2024
  • France
    1980–2025
    #1,362
    in 2025
  • Canada
    2004–2024
    #2,710
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1968–2000
    #727
    in 2000

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, 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. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Yelena by the numbers

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

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#1,807
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 2,834
Best rank ever
#1,504
2022
Peak year
2022
145 that year
First recorded
1961
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
1,626
Count in 2025
112

Names similar to Yelena

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

YelitzaJelenaAlvenaAmeenaVerenaMarenaAllenaMelenaLavenaDelenaJolenaJalenaDalenaSarenaEllenaKalenaArlenaSirenaRaenaKarenaMeenaAdenaKareenaNeena

Sibling names for Yelena

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 Yelena

Top names of 2022, Yelena's peak yearThe 2020s in fullOther names that peaked in 2022Girls' names starting with Y