Allena
Feminine
Slavic languages dislike a word beginning with a vowel and put a consonant in front. Helena became Yelena in Russian, Joseph became Yosif, and the sound is not decorative: it is a systematic repair the language applies to almost every vowel-initial borrowing.
How old is the name Allena?
Allena first appears in US birth records in 1888 — 137 years ago. The typical Allena alive today was born around 1996, making them about 29 years old. About 1,700 people named Allena are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Allena most popular?
Allena peaked in 1893, reaching #955 nationally. Today it ranks #9457, 8,502 places below that high. See the whole 1893 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Helena to Allena
The story of Allena
Prothesis, adding a sound to the front of a word, is a common repair strategy and different languages use different consonants. Slavic uses a y-glide: Helena becomes Yelena, Ivan comes from Iohannes with the same addition, and Russian yest, to eat, corresponds to Latin est. Spanish uses a vowel instead, putting an e in front of words beginning with s plus a consonant, which is why schola became escuela and Stephen is Esteban. Turkish does the same with foreign clusters. What all of them are doing is bringing a borrowed word into line with the shapes the language allows at the start of a syllable, and the repair is applied automatically by speakers who have never thought about it. Alena is the result after the added y was later dropped again in the short form, which leaves the name looking untouched.
Meaningnot established
Not established
Allena is most likely a variant of Alena, itself a Slavic short form of Yelena, the Russian form of Helena. Helen's meaning is genuinely unknown; the connections often given to a Greek word for torch or moon are guesses. Allena may equally be a feminine of Alan, whose meaning is also unknown. The peak is 1893.
How the name formed
- Helena
- Yelena
- Alena
- Allena
Related forms: Alena · Alena · Helena
Pronouncing Allena
ah-LEE-nah
Three syllables, stress on the second. Some families say ah-LAY-nah. Allena, Alena and Aleena are homophones under the first reading.
Nicknames for Allena
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1888
- Most girls named
- 201049 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #955reached in 1893
- Change vs 2023
- −52.4%10 in 2025, from 21
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Allena in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Alena in Russian — spelling variant
- Alena in Czech — same name
- Helena in English — related form
Allenas among us
people named Allena are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 160,727 born in 2025 was named Allena
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Allena
- #9457
- Allena on the 2025 chart
- #350
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Allena went to 10 girls in 2025, but Aleena, Alena and Alenna and the rest below are the same name said out loud. Together the 6 spellings went to 878, which makes it the 350th most-given girls’ name of the year — 9,107 places above the chart.
About 1 girl in 1,831 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 160,727 for Allena itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Allena sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Allena beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Allena in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Lena and Allie are both usable short forms.
- Three syllables with clear middle stress.
- The name is used across Slavic Europe and the English-speaking world.
- Alena with one l is the standard Slavic spelling.
- The middle vowel has two pronunciations.
- The meaning of Helen is genuinely unknown.
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Allena
Feminine · #9457 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Allenas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,700 people named Allena are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Allena?
- Allena is one of 6 recorded spellings. Aleena is the more common one — 436 births in 2025 against 10 for Allena.
- How popular is the name Allena in 2025?
- Allena ranks #9457 among US girl names in 2025, with 10 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Allena?
- About 1 in every 160,727 US girls born in 2025 was named Allena — 10 in all.
- Will my child share the name Allena with classmates?
- Allena will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Allena
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Leta#9457 · Inga#9457 · Delphia#9457 · Cammie#9457 · Lisandra#9457 · Amee#9457 · Venecia#9457 · Annetta#9457
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Allena? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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