Mythological Names, Greek Names, Greek Mythological Names

English and Greek speaking countries

Helene is a direct transliteration of the ancient Greek name found in English as Helen or Helena. Its etymology is disputed and has been complicated by shaky theories placing, for example, 'helene' as a cognate of 'selene' (moon). It has also been suggested that the name comes from an Indo-European root meaning 'shine'. The strongest theory suggests the name comes from 'helene' (also found 'helane'), meaning 'torch', or 'helene', meaning 'basket'. The torches were made from bound together reeds and the baskets in question were woven wicker and rope. Therefore, 'helene' may mean 'wicker', 'reed' or 'shoot' (it was not uncommon in Greek for a word for a material to come to refer to an object itself made from that material). The modern French form of this name is written Hélène and pronounced 'ey LEN'.