Given name · Russian · Ukrainian · rsk
Олена
“the shining light”
Олена (Olena) is a feminine given name from Carpathian Rusyn, ultimately from Ancient Greek. It is used in Ukrainian and Pannonian Rusyn.
Russian and Ukrainian and rskWritten in Cyrillic script. In English: Yelena.
Meaning & origin
What it means
Олена is Olena written in Cyrillic. In Russian use, Olena carries the interpretation “the shining light.”
Explained through its name family
Where it comes from
Олена comes from Carpathian Rusyn, and ultimately from Ancient Greek.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
How it developed
In Pannonian Rusyn usage, Олена developed from Ἑλένη.
Олена’s family of names
In Pannonian Rusyn usage, Олена shares an earlier linguistic root with Гелена. In Ukrainian usage, Олена has a conventional equivalent in the Italian form Elena. In Ukrainian usage, Олена has a conventional equivalent in the Czech form Helena.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Олена has relatives in 9 languages. Lines run from its Ancient Greek roots to each of them.
Ancient Greekwhere Олена comes from · 1 name
Nicknames & forms 1
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 3
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 16
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Олена
- Olena ZelenskaFirst Lady of Ukraine since 2019born 1978
- Olena TopoliaUkrainian singerborn 1986
- Aljona SavchenkoUkrainian & German pair skaterborn 1984
- Olena PchilkaUkrainian academic (1849–1930)
- Olena KostevychUkrainian sport shooterborn 1985
- Olena BilosiukUkrainian biathleteborn 1987
- Olena ApanovychUkrainian historian (1919-2000)
- Olena DemyanenkoUkrainian film director, producer, screenwriterborn 1966
- Olena TelihaUkrainian poet (1906–1942)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Олена, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Hephaestion
Hephaestion is a given name from Ancient Greek. It is used in Latin.
—
Gascoigne
“Basques, Gascons”
—
Ángela
“messenger”
>99% girls
Eulàlia
Eulàlia is a feminine given name from Latin, ultimately from Ancient Greek. It is used in Catalan.
>99% girls
Herzog
Herzog is a surname from German, ultimately from Ancient Greek.
—
Hegesias
Hegesias is a given name from Ancient Greek. It is used in Latin.
—
Maftei
Maftei is a surname from Old Church Slavonic, ultimately from Ancient Greek. It is used in Romanian.
—
Iulus
Iulus is a given name from Ancient Greek. It is used in Latin.
—