Lena (name)
| Pronunciation | LEH-na (Swedish, German, Dutch, Polish, Italian), LYEH-nuh (Russian), LEE-nuh (English), LEH-NAH (Georgian), leh-NAH (Armenian) |
|---|---|
| Gender | Female |
| Origin | |
| Word/name | Greek, Germanic, Scandinavian, Slavic |
| Meaning | 'shining light', 'bright' |
Lena is a feminine given name, a short form of Helena (Ἑλένη), meaning 'torch' or 'shining light'. It may be a given name by itself or as a diminutive of Helena and variants, such as Elena.
People with the given name
- Lena (actress), Malayalam film actress
- Lena Ackebo (born 1950), Swedish comic creator
- Lena Åkesson (born 1967), Swedish boxer
- Lena Anderssen, Faroese-Canadian singer-songwriter
- Lena Ashwell (1872–1957), British actress
- Lena Asplund (born 1956), Swedish politician
- Lena Baker (1900–1945), American convicted of murder
- Lena Bergman (born 1943), Swedish social services employee
- Lena Bergström (born 1961), Swedish textiles and glass designer
- Léna Bernstein (1906–1932), German aviator
- Lena Berntsson (born 1978), Swedish athlete
- Lena Börjeson (1879–1976), Swedish sculptor, teacher
- Lena Northern Buckner (1875–1939), American social worker
- Lena Burke (born 1978), Cuban singer and actress
- Lena Chamamyan (born 1980), Syrian singer of Armenian origin
- Lena Christ (1881–1920), German writer
- Lena Doolin Mason (1864–1924), American Methodist preacher and poet
- Lena Dunham (born 1986), American filmmaker and actress
- Lena Düpont (born 1986), German politician
- Lena Einhorn (born 1954), Swedish director, writer and physician
- Lena Endre (born 1955), Swedish theatre, film and television actress
- Lena Erdil (born 1989), Turkish windsurfer
- Lena Eriksson (born 1972), Swedish breaststroke swimmer
- Lena Santos Ferguson (1928–2004), American secretary, clubwoman, and civil rights advocate
- Lena Fiagbe, British soul singer-songwriter
- Lena Forsén (born 1951), Swedish Playboy Playmate
- Lena Frier Kristiansen (born 1983), Danish badminton player
- Lena Gercke (born 1988), German model
- Lena Hallin (born 1961), Swedish Air Force major general
- Lena Häcki (born 1995), Swiss biathlete
- Lena Hades (born 1959), Russian painter
- Lena Tracy Hanks (1879–1944), American psychologist
- Lena Headey (born 1973), British actress
- Lena Hill, American academic administrator
- Lena Horne (1917–2010), American singer and actress
- Lena Jeger, Baroness Jeger (1915–2007), British politician
- Lena Jensen (born 1973), Norwegian politician
- Lena Jensen Rogn (born 1980), Norwegian cross-country skier
- Lena Johansson (born 1969), Swedish politician
- Lena Kovačević (born 1992), Serbian singer
- Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth (born 1955), Swedish politician
- Lena Lotzen (born 1993), German footballer
- Lena Machado (1903–1974) Native Hawaiian singer, composer, and ukulele player
- Lena Malkus (born 1993), German long jumper
- Lena Martell (born 1940), Scottish singer
- Lena B. Mathes (1861–1951), American educator, social reformer, and ordained minister
- Lena McEwan (1927–2011), Australian plastic surgeon
- Lena McLin (1928–2023), American composer
- Lena Meyer-Landrut (born 1991), German singer, winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2010
- Lena Nazaryan (born 1983), Armenian journalist and politician
- Lena Oberdorf (born 2001), German footballer
- Lena Olin (born 1955), Swedish actress
- Lena Platonos (born 1951), Greek musician, pianist, and composer
- Lena Raine (born 1984), American video game composer and producer
- Lena Richard (1892 or 1893-1950), American cookbook author and restaurateur
- Lena Röhlings (born 2002), German canoeist
- Lena Rosenthal (1920–2007), birthname of American businesswoman Leona Helmsley
- Lena Sadick, lawn and indoor bowler
- Lena Sandlin-Hedman (born 1969), Swedish politician
- Lena Stojković (born 2002), Croatian taekwondo practitioner
- Lena Valaitis (born 1943), Lithuanian-German singer
- Lena Waithe (born 1984), American screenwriter, producer, and actress
- Lena Yada (born 1978), Japanese-American model
- Lena Zavaroni (1963–1999), Scottish singer
Nickname
- Jennie Lena, stage name of Jennie Willemstijn (born 1977), Dutch singer and songwriter
- Lena Asmus, nickname of Helene Asmus (born 1982), Russian and German rhythmic gymnast
- Lena Blackburne, nickname of Russell Aubrey Blackburne (1886–1968), American baseball infielder, manager, coach, and scout
- Lena Brogren, nickname of Ulla-Britt Brogren (1929–2005), was a Swedish actress
- Lena Connell, stage name of Adelin Beatrice Connell, also known professionally as Beatrice Cundy, (1875–1949), British suffragette and a well-known photographer
- Lena Crittenden/Lee Crittenden, pennames of Lela E. Buis, American speculative fiction writer, playwright, poet and artist
- Lena d'Água, stage name of Helena Maria de Jesus Águas (born 1956), Portuguese singer
- Lena Farugia, stage name of Nicolina Elizabeth Farruggia (1951–2019), American-born South African actress, screenwriter, director and producer
- Lena Hall, stage name of Celina Consuela Gabriella Carvajal (born 1980), American actress and singer
- Lena Herzog, stage name of Elena Herzog (née Pisetski; born 1970), Russian-American visual artist and photographer
- Lena Kang, stage name of Kang Re-Na (born 2002), South Korean singer, former member of K-pop group GWSN
- Lena Katina, stage name of Elena Sergeevna Katina (born 1984), Russian singer
- Lena Michaëlis, nickname of Helena Cornelia Michaëlis (1905–1982), Dutch discus thrower
- Lena Milman, nickname of Angelena Frances Milman (1862–1914), British translator, critic and architectural historian
- Lena Neuner, nickname of Magdalena Neuner (married name Magdalena Holzer; born 1987), German biathlete
- Lena Ovchynnikova, nickname of Oléna Serhíyivna Ovchýnnikova (born 1987), Ukrainian kickboxer and mixed martial artist
- Lena Oxton, fictional Overwatch character, known as Tracer (Overwatch)
- Lena Park, stage name of Park Jung-hyun (born 1976), Korean singer, also known as Park Jung Hyun (박정현)
- Lena Philipsson, stage name of Maria Magdalena Philipsson (born 1966), Swedish singer, also known as "Lena Ph"
- Lena Piskun, nickname of Elena Mikhaylovna Piskun (born 1978), Belarusian artistic gymnast
- Lena Purcell, nickname of Samuelene Purcell (1898–1982), New Zealand shop assistant and trade unionist
- Lena Rice, nickname of Helena Bertha Grace Rice (1866–1907), Irish tennis player
- Lena Ruru, nickname of Rina Matewai Ruru (1902–1977), New Zealand community leader, sportswoman, pianist and Māori welfare worker
- Lena Styles, nickname of William Graves Styles (1899–1956), American baseball catcher
- Lena Tretyakova, stage name of Elena Nikolaevna Tretyakova (born 1988), Russian singer
Fictional characters
- The female protagonist in an Ole and Lena joke
- Lena, in the 1996 anime Shamanic Princess
- Lena, played by Marion Cotillard in the 2006 film Toi et Moi
- Lena, played by Emma Levie in the 2011 film Lena
- Lena, played by Natalie Portman in the 2018 film Annihilation
- Lena, in the book series Fablehaven
- Lena Adams, in the Grant County, Georgia series of books
- Lena Duchannes, in the Beautiful Creatures series of books
- Lena Dupree, an antagonist in Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island
- Lena Adams Foster, in American TV series The Fosters
- Lena Grove, in the William Faulkner novel Light In August
- Lena Haloway, in the Delirium series of books by Lauren Oliver
- Lena Hatun, in Turkish TV series Kuruluş: Osman
- Lena Kaligaris, in the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series of books
- Lena Luthor, Lex Luthor's sister in DC Comics
- Lena Milizé, in 86: Eighty Six, short for Vladilena
- Lena "Tracer" Oxton, in the video games Overwatch and Heroes of the Storm
- Lena Seguret, in The Returned television show
- Lena De Spell, in the DuckTales television show
- Lena Tikhonova in the Everlasting Summer game
- Lenna Charlotte Tycoon, one of the main characters of Final Fantasy V
- Lena Younger, in the A Raisin In The Sun play
People with the surname
- Jeffrey Lena (born 1958), American lawyer
- Jennie Lena, Dutch singer-songwriter
- Nijaz Lena (born 1986), Macedonian footballer