Alternatives To Elena

Alayna might be considered a variation of Alana with an extra-Y spin or phonetic version of Elena, which is a variation of Elaine. Might appeal to parents looking to honor an ancestral Alan or Elaine.

Alena is a modern variant of Helen. Alena might also be a spelling twist on the Slavic Alina or a long form of Lena.

Nickname for Alena, a Helen variation, that can be heard in Eastern Europe.

Alina has been drifting up the US popularity charts since the early 1980s, now nearing the Top 100. But Alina's real strength is in its international flexibility: The name ranks highly in a wide range of European, English speaking, and Latin American countries.

A light and pretty pan-cultural name which can be considered a variant of either the Greek name Selene or Selena, meaning "moon", or of the French Celine, meaning "heavenly". An attractive choice that is surprisingly rare in the US: out of the Top 1000 since 2006.

Clara is a strong, lovely girls' name that's always ranked among the US Top 1000 girl names but has been climbing since the turn of this century. Now holding steady around Number 100, Clara is a modern classic, neither too popular nor too unusual.

Edna is one of those names that, until what it seemed like a few minutes ago, felt so terminally frumpy that no one could imagine a parent choosing it for an innocent modern baby girl. But with the great upswing in names honoring ancestral family members, several of them being other four-letter, e-ending names, we wouldn't be so sure.

Edwina may still be taking tea in the parlor, but we can see her joining friends like Matilda and Josephine for a comeback, especially if pronounced like Edwin rather than Edween.

A genus of birds in the flycatcher family, Elaenia is one of the many unique baby names in the Elena family. But that spelling is sure to trip up some people.

Both Elaine and Elena are on an upward trajectory, which means that Elaina, a combination of the two, is popular too.

This old Scottish form of Helen has had quite a history, going from appearing as one of the shining heroines of the Arthurian legends, the princess who fell in love with Sir Lancelot and became the mother of Sir Galahad, referred to as 'Elaine the fair' and 'Elaine the lovable', to being the name of the most famous of New York's celebrity restaurants, to being the archetypal New York neurotic on Seinfeld.

While we still can't see Hilda coming back any time soon, it's conceivable that this Italian version could ride the coattails of Ella, Elena and Ellery to broader popularity.

Eleanor's straightforward feminine image combined with its royal medieval history is striking just the right note for parents in search of a girls' name that combines substance and style.

Eleanor is back, Nora is back, and soon Eleanora will be too. Off the charts since the 1930s, this elaboration of the classic Eleanor was in common use for decades before falling from favor.

Though the tragedies of the Greeks and Eugene O'Neill that used this name are filled with incest and murder, Electra is still a brilliant choice. Isabella Rossellini chose the gentler Italian verson, Elettra, for her now grown daughter.

Form of Eleanor found in the Pacific Islands, such as Fiji and Tonga. Other sources say it is used in Hawaii, but Elenoa has never been recorded as a name in the state.