Helle

From Ancient Greek Ἕλλη (Héllē).

• IPA^(key): /ˈhɛli/
• Rhymes: -ɛli

Helle

1. (Greek mythology) A daughter of king Athamas, who, together with her brother Phrixus, fled from their stepmother Ino to Colchis on a golden ram. On their way, she fell from its back and was drowned in the strait called, after her, Hellespont.
2. A female given name from Greek.

From a diminutive of Helga.

• IPA^(key): [ˈhɛlə]

Helle

1. a female given name

• [1] Danskernes Navne, based on CPR data: 37 673 females with the given name Helle have been registered in Denmark between about 1890 (=the population alive in 1967) and January 2005, with the frequency peak in the 1960s. Accessed on 19 May 2011.

• (Beekdaelen) First attested as Helle in 1803-1820. Derived from either helle (“lowland, marshland”) or a deformation of *helde (“slope, incline”). See also Limburgish G'n Hèl.
• (Gulpen-Wittem) First attested as Hölle in 1803-1820. Likely derived from helle (“lowland, marshland”). A derivation from *helde (“slope, incline”) is less likely when the oldest attestation of the toponym is taken into account.

• IPA^(key): /ˈɦɛ.lə/
• Hyphenation: Hel‧le
• Rhymes: -ɛlə

Helle n

1. a hamlet in Beekdaelen, Limburg, Netherlands
2. a hamlet in Gulpen-Wittem, Limburg, Netherlands

• Hellebroek

• van Berkel, Gerard; Samplonius, Kees (2018), Nederlandse plaatsnamen verklaard (in Dutch), Mijnbestseller.nl, →ISBN

Variant of Helena (“Helen”) also associated with hell (“tender”); comparable to Finnish Hellä.

Helle

1. a female given name

Partially variants of Hella, partially from helle as a relatively recent surname adopted during Finnicization of surnames in the early 20th century.^[1]

• IPA^(key): /ˈhelːeˣ/, [ˈhe̞lːe̞(ʔ)]
• Rhymes: -elːe
• Syllabification^(key): Hel‧le
• Hyphenation^(key): Hel‧le

Helle

1. a Finnish surname

• Helle is the 1064^th (tied with 2 other surnames) most common surname in Finland, belonging to 804 individuals, according to August 2025 data from the Digital and Population Data Services Agency of Finland.

From Danish Helle.

• IPA^(key): /ˈhelːe/, [ˈhe̞lːe̞]
• Rhymes: -elːe
• Syllabification^(key): Hel‧le
• Hyphenation^(key): Hel‧le

Helle

1. a female given name

• Helle is the 1140^th (tied with 6 other names) most common female given name in Finland, belonging to 129 female individuals (and as a middle name to 98 more), according to August 2025 data from the Digital and Population Data Services Agency of Finland.

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

Nominalization of the adjective hell.

Helle n or f (mixed, genitive Helles or Helle, plural Hellen)

1. pale lager

hell +‎ -e

Helle f (genitive Helle, no plural)

1. brightness

• “Helle” in Duden online

From Ancient Greek Ἕλλη (Héllē).

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈhɛl.leː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈɛl.le]

Hellē f sg (genitive Hellēs); first declension

1. (Greek mythology) Helle

First-declension noun (feminine, Greek-type, nominative singular in -ē), singular only.

From Danish Helle.

Helle

1. a female given name