Lena

LEE-nuh; LEH-nuh; LAY-nuh

English, Scottish, Dutch, German, and Scandinavian, diminutive of various names ending in -lena

"bright, beautiful; noble; delicate, soft; defending men"

Lena Origin and Meaning

The name Lena is a girl's name of English origin.

This pet form of Helena and other ena-ending names, long used as an independent name, is attracting notice again as an option both multicultural and simple. Lena was a Top 100 name from 1880 to 1920.

A past inspiration might be the lovely singer Lena Horne, a contemporary one is the hot creator of and actress in Girls, Lena Dunham, another might be Game of Thrones actress Lena Headey.

Lena Grove is a simple but strong character in William Faulkner's Light in August.

Lena Rank in US Top 1000

# 271 in the US

Lena Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 163 on Nameberry

Popularity of the name Lena

• 271 US 2023
• 163 Nameberry 2025
• 106 Canada 2023
• 193 Future 2028
• 260 England 2023
• 147 Scotland 2023
• 85 Ireland 2017
• 28 Germany 2024
• 63 Netherlands 2024
• 55 Iceland 2021
• 33 Belgium 2023
• 13 Switzerland 2023
• 8 Austria 2023
• 16 Poland 2024
• 69 Slovenia 2023
• 94 Bosnia and Herzegovina 2023
• 31 Croatia 2023

20 Names Similar to Lena

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Lena.

• Gemma
• Tessa
• Annalise
• Elise
• Camille
• Mara
• Norah
• Cecelia
• Adaline
• Amelie
• Noelle
• Madeleine
• Juliette
• Elle
• Lorelai
• Lilah
• Vivienne
• Naomi
• Liv
• Gwen

Famous People Named Lena

• Lena Dunham American actress and filmmaker
• Lena Headey English actress
• Lena Mary Calhoun Horne American actress and singer
• Lena Meyer Landrut, German singer
• Lena Yada Japanese,American pro wrestler
• Lena Zavaroni Scottish singer
• Elena Sergeevna "Lena" Katina Russian singer of group t.A.T.u
• Lena Waithe American actress, producer and screenwriter
• Lena Elizabeth Tindall (b. 2018) daughter of Zara and Mike Tindall; granddaughter of Princess Anne

The name Lena in Pop Culture

• Lena the Hyena character from the "Li'l Abner" universe
• Lena Sayers character in the anime "My,Otome"
• Lena Kaligaris character in Ann Brashares's "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants"
• Lena Grove character in "Light in August" by William Faulkner
• Lena Leonard character in movie "Punch,Drunk Love"
• Lena Duchannes character in Caster Chronicles & Beautiful Creatures series
• Lena St. Clair character in Amy Tan's "The Joy Luck Club"
• Lena character in movie "Blue Crush"
• Lena Luthor character in DC Comics and CW show "Supergirl"
• Lena Adams Foster a lead character on TV's "The Fosters"
• Magdelena "Lena" Ella Haloway Tiddle main character in "Delirium" trilogy by Lauren Oliver
• Lena stereotypical Scandinavian in "Ole and Lena" jokes
• Lena Pearce character in the game "Watch Dogs"
• Lena "Tracer" Oxton character in the game "Overwatch"
• Lena Adams character in the "Will Trent" series by Karin Slaughter
• Lena character in "DuckTales"
• Lena character in ABC's "Splitting Up Together"
• Lena also known as Ghost Bird, character in "Southern Reach" series
• Lena Lingard character in Willa Cather's "My Ántonia"

International Variations of the name Lena

• Leni Dutch