Given name & surname · also Polish
Hela
Hela is a feminine given name from Polish, ultimately from Ancient Greek. It is used in Polish, Czech, and Old Czech.
Original PolishHelena
Meaning & origin
Where it comes from
Hela comes from Polish, and ultimately from Ancient Greek.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
How it developed
In Czech usage, Hela is a diminutive of Helena.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1990. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin. Hela is a variant of Hel. The history of Hel gives this family its wider story. In mythological stories, Hel is associated with the goddess of the dead.
Combines direct and name-family evidence
Hela through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 104
- 0 boys · 104 girls
- Most popular year
- 2018
- 14 babies
- 2025
- 10
- #9,697 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +10%
- Rising
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 10 U.S. birth records for girls, ranking No. 9,697 among girls’ names. The recent annual counts are too incomplete to establish a ten-year comparison. Its largest published annual count for girls was 14 in 2018. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 252 as a first name in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Hela’s family of names
In Czech usage, Hela is a diminutive of Helena. Hela has a related form in Hel. In Old Czech usage, Hela has a diminutive in HELKA.
Inner ring: spellings · outer: nicknames and forms.
Around the world
Hela has relatives in 4 languages. Lines run from its Ancient Greek roots to each of them.
3 related names in 4 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 3
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
See also 4
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Hela
- Hela AyariTunisian judokaborn 1994
- Hela RiabiTunisian wrestlerborn 1987
- Hela MsaadTunisian woman handball playerborn 1979
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Hela, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Hestia
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“syrian”
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Radha carries several Sanskrit naming contexts, including the central figure of a major devotional poem.
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Ixchell
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Tilli
“the power of the people”
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Sibylla
“a prophetess; a seer”
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Nor
“light”
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Tarja
Tarja is a feminine given name from Russian, ultimately from Ancient Greek. It is used in Finnish.
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