A female name. Greek ‘Ελένη, f. of 'Ελενος ‘the bright one’. The wide diffusion of the name is not owing to the fame of the fateful queen of Menelaus, but to Helena (d. a.d. 338), the mother of the Emperor Constantine. Many legends were early attached to her name, such as that of her discovery of the true cross. There are 135 churches dedicated to her in Great Britain. She was said to have been of British origin, the d. of a British king, the Old King Cole of the nursery rhyme. Her name was popular in Celtic countries, especially Wales, from an early date. It was not used in England in the Old English period, but is found (Elena) soon after the Conquest. The common English form of the name has always been Ellen (q.v.), but Helen and Helena came in at the Renaissance. At the present time Helen is probably more common than Ellen. For another development see Eleanor. The Elaine of Arthurian romance is a gallicizing of a Welsh form of Helen. The Irish form Aileen (q.v.) is now often used in England as an independent name. The German pet-form Lena is sometimes also used in England.

Greek (feminine) - Bright as the sun.