Helen
Helen is a female given name: 99% of people named Helen are women, and it is recorded as female in 13 of the 13 countries covered.
Helen · Helén
- Verdict
- Female
- Male / female split
- 1% male / 99% female
- Confidence
- High (64 or more weighted country observations)
- Most common in
- United States, Great Britain, Ireland
- Also spelled
- Helén
- US births since 1880
- 3,104 male / 1,018,290 female
- Data
- nam_dict (GFDL) + US SSA
- Updated
- 2026-09-11
How to address Helen
When you do not know their gender for certain, the full name with no title is the safe choice: "Dear Helen," in English, "Guten Tag Helen," in German. Helen is a female given name: about 99% of people named Helen are women. A quick look at a profile confirms it for certain.
Ready-made greetings in six languages
English
Dear Helen,
German
Guten Tag Helen,
French
Bonjour Helen,
Spanish
Estimado/a Helen:
Chinese
Helen您好：
Japanese
Helen様
English
Hi Helen,
German
Hi Helen,
French
Salut Helen,
Spanish
Hola Helen,
Chinese
Helen你好：
Japanese
Helenさん
This is a statistical estimate, not a statement about the gender, identity or correct form of address of any particular person.
Country breakdown
| Country | How common | Usually | Male share |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | very common | woman's name | 0% |
| Great Britain | common | woman's name | 2% |
| Ireland | common | woman's name | 2% |
| Malta | common | woman's name | 2% |
| Estonia | uncommon | woman's name | 2% |
| Sweden | uncommon | woman's name | 2% |
| Switzerland | uncommon | woman's name | 2% |
| Denmark | uncommon | woman's name | 2% |
| Iceland | uncommon | woman's name | 2% |
| Netherlands | uncommon | woman's name | 2% |
| Norway | uncommon | woman's name | 2% |
| Belgium | rare | woman's name | 2% |
Show all 13 countries
| Country | How common | Usually | Male share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan | rare | woman's name | 2% |
United States birth data
3,104 male · 1,018,290 female · 1,021,394 births recorded
Since 1980: 0% male.
Frequently asked questions
Is Helen a male or female name?
Helen is a female given name: 99% of people named Helen are women, and it is recorded as female in 13 of the 13 countries covered.
How do I address Helen in an email?
When you do not know their gender for certain, the full name with no title is the safe choice: "Dear Helen," in English, "Guten Tag Helen," in German. Helen is a female given name: about 99% of people named Helen are women. A quick look at a profile confirms it for certain.
Is Helen a unisex name?
Helen is not a unisex name: 1% of people named Helen are men. Helen leans strongly female overall.
Related names
Sources
Gender by country: nam_dict, the c't first-names dictionary by Joerg Michael, roughly 44,000 names across 55 countries, licensed GFDL. US frequencies: United States Social Security Administration baby-name data, public domain. Method: how we classify names. Full dataset: data & licences. Data built 2026-09-11.
DearWho, "Is Helen a male or female name?", https://dearwho.vercel.app/name/helen (accessed 2026-09-11). Data: nam_dict (J. Michael, GFDL) and US SSA, built 2026-09-11.
BibTeX
@misc{dearwho_helen,
title = {Is Helen a male or female name?},
author = {{DearWho}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://dearwho.vercel.app/name/helen},
note = {Data: nam_dict (GFDL), US SSA public domain}
}