Ileana

Girl · Greek (origin unknown)

Ileana

Say it: ee-LYAH-nah

Try it with your surname

Meaning

A Romanian form of Helen; the origin of Greek Helene is unknown.

Uncertainseveral explanations, none settled.

Long used in Romania and familiar from the fairy-tale princess Ileana Cosânzeana.

Its wave through time

Popular now

In the United States

5,220 babies given this name since 1918
At its height in 1991, about 1 in 13,300 girls
82 babies in 2020

Through the ages

Used by

The family of the name

Other spellings: Ilinca

English	Helen
Hungarian	Ilona
Greek	Eleni

Famous bearers

Ileana Cosânzeana, heroine of Romanian fairy tales
Princess Ileana of Romania

Names worth a look

IrinaGirlFrom Greek Eirene 'peace'.Middle Ages · peak 2019

DespinaGirlFrom Greek despoina 'lady, mistress', used of the Virgin Mary.Middle Ages · peak 1976

ParaskeviGirlGreek paraskeuē, 'preparation', the Greek name for Friday, the day of preparation before the Sabbath.Early Medieval

IoanaGirlFeminine of Ioan (John), from Hebrew Yohanan 'God is gracious'.Middle Ages

EcaterinaGirlFrom Greek Aikaterine, whose origin is unknown; the link to katharos 'pure' is a later folk etymology.Middle Ages

AncaGirlA Romanian diminutive of Ana, from Hebrew Hannah 'grace, favour'.Middle Ages

IlonaGirlHungarian form of Helen, taken into Polish, Czech and Slovak.Middle Ages · peak 1940

IleneGirlFading since the 1930speak 1938

Where this comes from

Royal and noble genealogies
Well-known works of literature
National birth statistics of European countries source
United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source

Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.

Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.