Helen is a distinctive choice, ranked #705 in 2025. Your child is likely to be the only Helen in their class.
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UK Rank 2025
#705
US Rank #462
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About the Name Helen
Helen has seen a notable decline in recent years, dropping 136 places in five years. It was most popular in 1996 at #108 โ parents choosing it today are making a deliberately counter-trend decision. The name has been a consistent presence in UK records since 1996.
Helen is uncommon in the UK, so your child is very likely to be the only Helen in their class.
In the US it ranks even higher at #424, where it enjoys a particularly strong following.
โญ Famous People Named Helen
Helen Sharman โ Helen Patricia Sharman is a British chemist and cosmonaut who became the first British person, first Western European woman and first privately funded woman in space, as well as the first woman to visit the Mir space station, in May 1991.
Helen Jackson โ Helen Jackson may refer to: Helen Hunt Jackson, American writer Helen M.
Helen Morgan โ Helen Morgan may refer to: Helen Morgan (singer), American singer and actress.
Biographical summaries are shortened from Wikipedia and are used under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence; those summaries remain available under that same licence.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about the name Helen
Unlikely. With around 52 UK babies named Helen per year, your child will almost certainly be the only Helen in their class, and possibly the only one in the whole school.
Helen has been fairly steady, ranked #705 in 2025 against #749 in 2020. Its best recorded position was #108 in 1996.
Helen is more popular in the US (#424) than in the UK (#885). Names with strong rankings in both countries tend to have broad cross-cultural appeal, working well for international families or those with ties to both nations.
Notable people named Helen include: Helen Sharman, Helen J. Shen and Helen Epstein. Short summaries for each appear below.
Helen appears in the US top 500 at #424 in 2024 โ moderately popular in America, though less so than in the UK.
52
UK babies named Helen (2025)
< 1
Expected classmates with this name (class of 28)
~0.0
In a school of 600
↑ 44 places
Rank change (last 5 years)
🏫 Who else is in the room?
In a typical UK class of 28, highlighted children share the name Helen
Almost certainly the only Helen in the class
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UK Popularity (1996–2025)
Rank and birth count · ONS official data
US Popularity (2020–2025)
Rank · SSA official data
✨ Similar names to Helen
Names with a similar style — each with their own classroom story
Helen Patricia Sharman is a British chemist and cosmonaut who became the first British person, first Western European woman and first privately funded woman in space, as well as the first woman to visit the Mir space station, in May 1991.
Helen (Ancient Greek: แผฮปฮญฮฝฮท, romanized: Helรฉnฤ), also known as Helen of Troy, or Helen of Sparta, and in Latin as Helena, was a figure in Greek mythology said to have been the most beautiful woman in the world.
Helen Jonas-Rosenzweig was a Polish-born Jewish Holocaust survivor who was interned during World War II at the Pลaszรณw concentration camp where she was forced to work as a maid for SS camp commandant Amon Gรถth.