# Elena (given name)

Elena is a popular female given name of Greek origin. The name means "shining light". Nicknames of the name Elena are Lena, Lennie, Ella, Ellie, Nellie, or Nena (less common).
Other common variants are Alena (German, Czech, Russian, Belarusian, Serbian, Croatian); Alenka (Slovenian); Alyona (Russian); Elene (Georgian); Helen (English); Hélène (French); Helena (Latin, Polish); Eliana (Portuguese); Eline (Dutch, Norwegian, Sranan Tongo); Ileana (Romanian, Italian, Spanish); Ilona (Hungarian, Finnish, Latvian); Ilana (Greek);Olena (Ukrainian); Leena (Finnish); and Elena/Yelena/Jelena (Russian, Serbian, Croatian).

## Notable people
### Given name
#### A–K

* Elena Abelson (1904–1993), better known as Tamara Talbot Rice, Russian-English art historian
* Elena Altieri, Italian actress
* Elena Amat Calderón (1910–2006), Spanish university professor and archivist
* Elena Anaya, Spanish actress
* Elena Arzhakova (born 1989), Russian runner who specializes in the middle distance events
* Elena Asimakopoulou, Greek model
* Elena Baltacha (1983–2014), British tennis player, born in Kyiv
* Elena Barulina (1895–1957), Russian Soviet botanist and geneticist, expert on lentils.
* Elena Berezhnaya, Russian pair skater
* Elena Bogdan (born 1992), Romanian tennis player
* Infanta Elena, Duchess of Lugo, (born 1963), Infanta of Spain and Duchess of Lugo
* Elena Bovina (born 1983), Russian tennis player
* Elena Brambilla (1942–2018), Italian historian
* Elena Braverman, Russian, Israeli, and Canadian mathematician
* Elena Carapetis, Greek-Australian actress
* Elena Carraro (born 2001), Italian hurdler
* Elena Ceaușescu (1916–1989), wife of former Romanian head of state Nicolae Ceaușescu
* Elena Constantinescu (1925–2005), British nightclub owner and spy
* Elena Damiani (born 1979), Peruvian visual artist
* Elena Delle Donne (born 1989), American basketball player
* Elena Dementieva (born 1981), Russian former tennis player
* Elena Eremina (born 2001), Russian artistic gymnast
* Elena Eskina (born 1976), retired Russian field hockey player and umpire
* Elena Ferrante (active 1992–present), pseudonymous Italian novelist
* Elena Fiore, Italian actress
* Elena Gerasimova (born 2004), Russian artistic gymnast
* Elena Gheorghe, Romanian singer; known for her hits "The Balkan Girls" and "Disco Romancing"
* Elena Goode (born 1983), American actress
* Ellie Goulding (born 1986), British singer-songwriter, born Elena Jane Goulding
* Elena Grölz (1960–2025), Romanian-born German handball player
* Elena Grushina, Ukrainian figure skater
* Elena Herraiz (born 1992), Spanish linguist and YouTube personality
* Elena Hila, Romanian shot putter
* Elena Huelva (2002–2023), Spanish cancer activist and writer
* Elena Ierodiakonou, Cypriot model
* Elena Izcue (1889–1970), Peruvian illustrator, graphic artist
* Elena Kagan (born 1960), former United States Solicitor General and current Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
* Elena Kalinina (born 1997), Russian kitesurfer
* Elena Kats-Chernin (born 1957), Australian composer
* Elena Khatzisavva, Cypriot gymnast
* Elena Kosmina, Ukrainian beauty queen and model
* Elena Kountoura, Greek ex-model and politician
* Elena Kratter (born 1996), Swiss para-athlete

#### L–Z

* Elena Ledda, Sardinian singer
* Elena Liashenko, Ukrainian figure skater
* Elena Likhovtseva (born 1975), Russian tennis player
* Elena Lobsanova, Russian-Canadian ballet dancer
* Elena Manuele (born 2003), Italian singer
* Elena Vladimirovna Markova (1923–2023), Soviet-Russian cyberneticist
* Elena Mousikou, Cypriot archer
* Elena Mazzantini (born 1874), Italian actress known as Daisy Sylvan
* Elena Nathanael, Greek actress
* Elena Nikolaeva (born 1985), Russian journalist
* Elena Nikolaidi, Greek-American opera singer
* Elena Nikoli, Greek handball player
* Elena Obraztsova (1930–2015), Russian operatic mezzo-soprano
* Elena Pampoulova (born 1972), Bulgarian tennis player
* Elena Panaritis, Greek economist
* Elena Paparizou, Greek singer
* Elena Pinderhughes (born 1995), American jazz flutist
* Princess Elena of Montenegro (Princess Elena Petrović-Njegoš of Montenegro, 1873–1952), wife of King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy
* Elena Poniatowska, Mexican journalist and author
* Elena Moldovan Popoviciu, Romanian mathematician
* Elena Rigas (born 1996), Danish speed skater
* Elena Rybakina (born 1999), Russian-Kazakhstani tennis player
* Elena Salgado (born 1949), Spanish politician
* Elena Saurel, London-based Spanish-American actress
* Elena Shimko (born 1982), Russian badminton player
* Elena Siegman, American singer
* Elena Skordelli, Cypriot television presenter
* Elena Souliotis, Greek opera singer
* Elena Stasova, Russian communist revolutionary
* Elena Tatarkova (born 1976), Ukrainian former tennis player
* Elena Temnikova, Russian singer, television personality and fashion designer
* Elena Tsagrinou (born 1994), Greek singer
* Elena Jane Tucker, Australian geneticist
* Elena Udrea, Romanian politician; Minister of Tourism
* Elena Urlaeva (born 1961), Uzbek human rights activist
* Elena Vaenga, Russian singer, songwriter and actress
* Elena Vardanyan (born 1984), Armenian actress
* Elena Vesnina (born 1986), Russian tennis player
* Elena Votsi, Greek designer
* Elena Waiss (1908–1988), Chilean pianist
* Elena Whitham (born 1974), British politician
* Elena Zamolodchikova, Russian gymnast
* Elena Zelenskaya, Russian soprano

### Middle name

* Maria Elena Camerin (born 1982), Italian tennis player
* Maria Elena Kyriakou (born 1984), Greek Cypriot singer

## In fiction

* Elena, from Street Fighter III
* Elena, a fictional character played by Hazera Ambce in the British web series Corner Shop Show
* Elena a priestess from Grandia II
* Elena, a lord and the illegitimate daughter of Thomas Covenant
* Elena, an 18-year-old girl from the Wii game Pandora's Tower
* Elena, a Soviet scientist in the Stanley Kubrick film 2001: A Space Odyssey
* Elena, played by Vera Filatova, is a resident of Apollo House and one of Jez's love interests in Peep Show (British TV series)
* Elena Alvarez, teenage daughter on One Day at a Time (2017 TV series)
* Elena Amamiya, a character in Star Twinkle PreCure
* Elena Bothari-Jesek, a childhood friend of Miles' and later a leader of the Dendarii Free Mercenary Fleet from the Vorkosigan Saga
* Elena Cañero-Reed, the main character from the tv show Diary of a Future President
* Elena Castillo Flores, a Disney princess from the animated television series Elena of Avalor
* Elena Fisher, a character in the Uncharted series
* Elena Gilbert, from The Vampire Diaries
* Elena Greco, character in the Neapolitan Novels, a 4-part series by the Italian author Elena Ferrante
* Elena Michaels, in the Women of the Otherworld series
* Elena Potato, from the comic book and animated series Monster Allergy
* Elena Ramos, from Dallas
* Elena of Turks, from Final Fantasy VII
* Elena Tyler, a character portrayed by Tangi Miller on the 1998–2002 Warner Bros. series Felicity
* Elena de la Vega, character from "The Mask of Zorro," a 1998 motion picture