Helga
Origin
Gender	Female
Word/name	Old Norse
Meaning	"holy", "blessed"
Other names
Related names	Hælga, Helge, Helgi, Hege, Hæge, Helja, Helle, Helka, Oili, Olga

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Helga (derived from Old Norse heilagr - "holy", "blessed") is a female name, used mainly in Scandinavia, German-speaking countries and the Low Countries (Hege, Helle, Helge, Helga, Helka or Oili). The name was in use in England before the Norman Conquest, but appears to have died out afterwards. It was re-introduced to English-speaking nations in the 20th century from Germany, the Netherlands, and the Nordic countries. Scandinavian male equivalent is Helge, or Helgi. Eastern Slavic names Olga (Ольга) and Oleg (Олег) are derived from it.

Name days: Estonia - May 31, Hungary - October 3, Latvia - October 9, Sweden - November 21, Finland - May 31, Greece - 11 July

People

Helga, also known as Saint Olga, (c. 890-969), Princess of Kiev

A

Helga Adler (born 1943), East German historian and politician
Helga de Alvear (born 1936), German art collector
Helga Ancher (1883–1964), Danish painter
Helga Anders (1948–1986), German-Austrian actress
Helga Aradóttir (1538–1614), grand-daughter of executed Icelandic bishop Jón Arason
Helga Arendt (1964–2013), West German sprinter

B

Helga Bachmann (1931–2011), Icelandic actress and director
Helga Baum (born 1954), German mathematician
Helga Bîrsan (born 1928), Romanian gymnast
Helga Braathen (1953–1982), Norwegian artistic gymnast
Helga de la Brache (1817–1885), Swedish con artist
Helga Brofeldt (1881–1968), Swedish film actress

C

Helga von Cramm (1840–1919), German–Swiss painter, illustrator, and graphic artist
Helga Cranston (1921–2013), German film editor
Helga Correia (born 1977), Portuguese politician

D

Helga Dagsland (1910–2003), Norwegian nurse and organizational leader
Helga Dancberga (1941–2019), Soviet then Latvian actress
Helga Davis, New York-based multidisciplinary artist
Helga Deen (1925–1943), Jewish victim of National Socialism
Helga Dernesch (born 1939), Austrian soprano and mezzo soprano
Helga Diederichsen (1930–2005), Mexican swimmer
Helga Diercks-Norden (1924–2011), German journalist and feminist activist
Helga Dietrich (1940–2018), German orchidologist and author
Helga Dudzinski (1929–2022), German figure skater

E

Helga Einsele (1910–2005), German criminologist, prison director, and high-profile prisons reformer
Helga Eng (1875–1966), Norwegian psychologist and educationalist
Helga Erhart, Austrian para-alpine skier
Helga Estby (1860–1942), American suffragist

F

Helga Fägerskiöld (1871–1958), Swedish baroness
Helga Feddersen (1930–1990), German actress
Helga Flatland (born 1984), Norwegian novelist and children's writer
Helga Foght (1902–1974), Danish textile artist
Helga Forner (1936–2004), professor of singing
Helga Franck (1933–1963), German stage and film actress
Helga Frier (1893-1972), Danish actress

G

Helga Gitmark (1929–2008), Norwegian politician
Helga Glöckner-Neubert (1938–2017), German writer
Helga Gnauer (1929–1990), Austrian fencer
Helga Goebbels (1932–1945), eldest daughter of Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels and Magda Goebbels
Helga Goetze (1922–2008), German artist, writer, and free love activist
Helga Gomes, biological oceanographer
Helga Göring (1922–2010), German stage, television, and film actress
Helga Grebing (1930–2017), German historian and university professor
Helga Guitton, German radio announcer
Helga Gunerius Eriksen (born 1950), Norwegian novelist and children's writer

H

Helga Haase (1934–1989), Polish-born speed skater in East Germany
Helga Hahnemann (1937–1991), East German multi-faceted stage performer and entertainer
Helga Halldórsdóttir (born 1963), Icelandic hurdler
Helga Haugen (born 1932), Norwegian politician
Helga Haugland Byfuglien (born 1950), Norwegian bishop
Helga Helgesen (1863–1936), Norwegian domestic science teacher and politician
Helga Hellebrand-Wiedermann (1930–2013), Austrian sprint canoer
Helga Henning (1937–2018), German sprinter
Helga Henselder-Barzel (1940–1995), German political scientist
Helga Hernes (born 1938), German-born Norwegian political scientist, diplomat, and politician
Helga Hoffmann (born 1937), German track and field athlete
Helga Hörz (born 1935), German Marxist philosopher and women's rights activist
Helga Hošková-Weissová (born 1929), Czech artist and Holocaust survivor

I

Helga Nadire İnan Ertürk (born 1984), Turkish-German footballer

J

Helga Jensine Waabenø (1908–1994), Norwegian nurse and Lutheran missionary
Helga Jónsdóttir (born 1957), professor in nursing

K

Helga Karlsen (1882–1936), Norwegian politician
Helga Klein (1931–2021), German athlete
Helga Koch (born 1942), German fencer
Helga Kohl (born 1943), Polish-born photographer based in Namibia
Helga Königsdorf (1938–2014), German mathematician and author
Helga Konrad (born 1948), Austrian politician
Helga W. Kraft, German-American professor
Helga Krapf (born 1988), Filipina actress
Helga Krause (1935–1989), German film editor
Helga Kreuter-Eggemann (1914–1970), German art historian
Helga Kuhse, Australian philosopher
Helga Kurm (1920–2011), Estonian pedagogical scientist

L

Helga Labs (born 1940), East German politician
Helga Landauer (born 1969), Russian director, writer, and poet, based in New York City
Helga Larsen (1884–1947), Danish trade unionist and pioneering politician
Helga van Leur (born 1970), Dutch meteorologist
Helga Lie (1930–2019), Norwegian politician
Helga Lindner (1951–2021), German swimmer
Helga Liné (born 1932), Portuguese-Spanish film actress and circus acrobat
Helga Livytska, Ukrainian humanitarian and public figure
Helga Luber, former East German slalom canoeist
Helga Lütten (born 1961), German former professional tennis player

M

Helga Martin (1940–1999), German film actress
Helga Matschkur (born 1943), German gymnast
Helga Mees (1937–2014), German fencer
Helga Moddansdóttir, Haakon Paulsson’s mistress
Helga Molander (1896–1986), German actress
Helga Moreira (born 1950), Portuguese poet
Helga de la Motte-Haber (born 1938), German musicologist
Helga Mucke-Wittbrodt (1910–1999), German physician
Helga Mühlberg-Ulze, East German sprint canoeist

N

Helga Neuner (born 1940), German actress
Helga Newmark (1932–2012), first female Holocaust survivor ordained as a rabbi
Helga Niemann (born 1956), German former swimmer
Helga Niessen Masthoff (born 1941), retired West German tennis player
Helga M. Novak (1935–2013), German-Icelandic writer
Helga Nowitzki, German former international basketball player
Helga Nowotny (born 1937), Austrian university professor emeritus

O-Ö

Helga Offen (1951–2020), German volleyball player
Helga Margrét Ögmundsdóttir (born 1948), Icelandic former professor
Helga Margrét Þorsteinsdóttir (born 1991), Icelandic heptathlete

P

Helga Pakasaar, Canada-based contemporary art curator and writer
Helga Paris (1938–2024), German photographer
Helga Pedersen (1911–1980), Danish politician
Helga Pedersen (born 1973), Norwegian politician
Helga Pichler, Italian luger
Helga Pilarczyk (1925–2011), German operatic soprano
Helga Plumb (born 1939), Austrian-born Canadian architect
Helga Pogatschar (born 1966), German composer

R

Helga E. Rafelski (1949–2000), German particle physicist
Helga Radtke (born 1962), German track and field athlete
Helga Ramstad (1875–1956), Norwegian politician
Helga Richter, retired German rower
Helga Marie Ring Reusch (1865–1944), Norwegian painter
Helga Ruebsamen (1934–2016), Dutch writer
Helga Rullestad (born 1949), Norwegian politician
Helga Rut Guðmundsdóttir (born 1970), Icelandic professor of music education

S

Helga Salvesen (1963-2016), Norwegian physician and professor of medicine
Helga Schauerte-Maubouet (born 1957), German-French organist, writer, and music editor
Helga Schmid (born 1960), German diplomat
Helga Schmidt-Neuber (1937-2018), German swimmer
Helga Schneider (born 1937), Italian writer of German origin
Helga Schubert (born 1940), German psychologist and author
Helga Schultze (1940-2015), German female tennis player
Helga Seibert (1939-1999), judge at Bundesverfassungsgericht
Helga Seidler (born 1949), German former athlete and Olympic medalist
Helga Sigurðardóttir (born 1969), Icelandic swimmer
Helga María Sista (born 1947), Argentine alpine skier
Helga Slessarev, scholar of German literature
Helga Stene (1904-1983), Norwegian educator, feminist, and resistance member
Helga Stentzel, Russian-born visual artist
Helga Stephenson, Canadian media executive
Helga Steudel (born 1939), German former motorcyclist and car racer
Helga Stevens, Belgian politician
Helga Stroh (born 1938), German fencer

T

Helga Tawil-Souri (born 1969), Palestinian-American media scholar and documentary filmmaker
Helga Testorf, subject of Andrew Wyeth's famous paintings
Helga Thaler Ausserhofer (born 1952), Italian politician
Helga Thomas (1891–1988), Swedish film actress
Helle Thorning-Schmidt (born 1966), 41st Prime Minister of Denmark
Helga Timm (1924-2014), German politician
Helga Trüpel (born 1958), German politician (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)

V

Helga Vala Helgadóttir (born 1972), Icelandic politician
Helga Vieira (born 1980), Portuguese female tennis player
Helga Vlahović (1945–2012), Croatian journalist, producer, and television personality

W

Helga Wagner (born 1956), German former swimmer
Helga Wanglie (1903-1991), elderly woman in a persistent vegetative state
Helga Weisz (born 1961), Austrian industrial ecologist, climate scientist, and professor of industrial ecology and climate change

Z

Helga Zepp-LaRouche (born 1948), German journalist and politician
Helga Zimmermann (born 1942), German former swimmer
Helga Josephine Zinnbauer (1909-1980), Australian community worker and librarian
Helga Zoega (born 1976), Icelandic professor of public health
Helga Zöllner (1941-1983), Hungarian figure skater

Fictional characters

Helga, wife of Hagar in the comic strip Hägar the Horrible
Helga, a Dutch enemy character in the fighting game Human Killing Machine
Helga the Fair, a character in Gunnlaugs saga ormstungu
Helga, a character in the game Suikoden IV
Helga, wife of Floki, character in the historical series Vikings
Helga von Bubble, a character in the Toy Story Toons short, Partysaurus Rex
Helga Gallimard, wife of Rene Gallimard in the play M Butterfly
Helga Geerhart, a character in the BBC sitcom 'Allo 'Allo!
Helga Hufflepuff, founder of Hogwarts' Hufflepuff house in the Harry Potter books
Helga Jace, a character in DC Comics
Helga Pataki, a character in the Nickelodeon animated series Hey Arnold!
Helga Phugly, a character in The Oblongs
Helga Rasmussen, a founder of the Black Armory in the video game Destiny 2
Helga Sinclair, a character in Atlantis: The Lost Empire
Helga Von Guggen, an antagonist in Totally Spies

Other

Helga, one of the two phantom torsos carried by the Artemis 1 mission

External links

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