Alena is a Czech, Slovak and Russian form of Helen, and so means "torch" or "bright light", from the Greek helene; in Germany it is also used as a short form of Magdalena. It is a gentle, international name that is easy to pronounce in many languages. In the United States Alena ranked number 723 in 2000, peaked at number 596 in 2015 and has stayed in the 600 to 820 range since, ranking number 707 in 2025.