Lena (name)

Lena is a female given name, usually meaning “light”, “bright” and “shining”. Lena is popular in Arabic, Hindi, Russian, Swedish, French, Finnish, and was the most popular name for girls born in Poland in 2013.

Lena

Pronunciation	/ˈleɪnə, ˈlɛnə, ˈliːnə/
Gender	Female
Origin
Word/name	Arabic German Hebrew Dutch Russian
Meaning	The ray of light
Other names
Variant form(s)	Leena, Lenna, Leana, Lina, Lene, Lenka
Nickname(s)	Nana, Len, Lin, Lean
Derived	Helena

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 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 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, 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 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 "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
• Lenna Charlotte Tycoon, one of the main characters of Final Fantasy V
• Lena Younger, in the A Raisin In The Sun play
• Lena Tikhonova in the Everlasting Summer game
• Lena Milizé, in 86: Eighty Six, short for Vladilena

People with the surname

• Jeffrey Lena (born 1958), American lawyer
• Jennie Lena, Dutch singer-songwriter
• Nijaz Lena (born 1986), Macedonian footballer

See also

• Leni (name)
• Lenna (disambiguation)
• Linna (disambiguation)
• Lanna (disambiguation)