Helen History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland

The illustrious surname Helen is classified as a habitation surname, which was originally derived from a place-name, and is one form of surname belonging to a broader group called hereditary surnames. Habitation names were derived from pre-existing names for towns, villages, parishes, or farmsteads. Topographic names, form the other broad category of surnames that was given to a person who resided near a physical feature such as a hill, stream, church, or type of tree.

Other local names are derived from the names of houses, manors, estates, regions, and entire counties. As a general rule, the greater the distance between an individual and their homeland, the larger the territory they were named after. For example, a person who only moved to another parish would be known by the name of their original village, while people who migrated to a different country were often known by the name of a region or country from which they came. Helen is a place-name from in Devon. Hillion, near Saint-Brieux, was the birthplace of Herve d'Helion, a companion of William the Conqueror who was awarded a barony and lands in Devon. The name could also have been a baptismal name derived from the son of Heilin.

Early Origins of the Helen family

The surname Helen was first found in Brittany, where Hillion, near Saint-Brieux, was the birthplace of Herve d'Helion, a companion of William the Conqueror who was awarded a barony and lands in Devon. It is there that the family established its family seat at Ashton and Credy-Helion.

Some of the family were found in the parish of St. Ewe, Cornwall. "The manor of Heligan, was at an early period the property of the Heligans, from whom it passed by female heirs to the Tregarthians, and Whitleghs, and from the latter by co-heiresses to the families of Grenville and Hals." 1

Shropshire, on the border of Wales, was of particular significance to the family. For it was here that in the Hundredorum Rolls of 1273, Philip filius Heilin, Robert filius Heilin and B'ucha uxor Heilini were recorded as holding lands at that time. 2

Early History of the Helen family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Helen research. Another 184 words (13 lines of text) covering the years 1086, 1190, 1273, 1562, 1600, 1631, 1662, 1685, 1705, 1708, 1711, 1728, 1736, 1759, 1861 and 1865 are included under the topic Early Helen History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Helen Spelling Variations

Since the Old and Middle English languages lacked definite spelling rules, Breton surnames have many spelling variations. Latin and French, which were the official court languages, were also influential on the spelling of surnames. The spelling of surnames was rarely consistent in medieval times, and scribes and church officials recorded names as they sounded rather than adhering to any specific spelling rules. Therefore, it was common to find the same individual referred to with different spellings of their surname in the ancient chronicles. Moreover, a large number of foreign names were brought into England after the Norman Conquest, which accelerated and accentuated the alterations to the spelling of various surnames. The name has been spelled Heylin, Heylen, Haylin, Hayling, Heylins, Heylens and many more.

Early Notables of the Helen family

Notable of this family during the Middle Ages was Rowland Heyyn or Heylin (1562?-1631), Sheriff of London, "descended from an ancient family seated at Pentreheylin in the parish of Llandysilio, Mongomeryshire, whose members were hereditary cupbearers (as the name signifies) to the princes of Powys. " 3Peter Heylin (1600-1662) of Burford, Oxfordshire, a theologian and historian whose controversial writings made him famous. He was born at Burford, Oxfordshire, in 1600, and was second son of Henry Heylyn by his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Francis Clampard of Wrentham, Kent...
Another 88 words (6 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Helen Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Helen Ranking

In New Zealand, the name Helen is the 557^th most popular surname with an estimated 1,264 people with that name. 4

Migration of the Helen family to Ireland

Some of the Helen family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 54 words (4 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Helen migration to the United States +

Some of the first immigrants to cross the Atlantic and come to North America carried the name Helen, or a variant listed above:

Helen Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Nathaniel Helen, who arrived in Maryland in 1671 5

Helen Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Georg Helen, who landed in New York in 1710 5

Contemporary Notables of the name Helen (post 1700) +

Kathleen Helen Tooth (b. 1916), the first woman to hold the position of medical superintendent at the Sydney Hospital
Katheryn Helen Morse (1958-2023), Australian archaeologist who pioneered research on Pleistocene coastal archaeology in Western Australia
Jennifer Helen McLeod ONZM (1941-2022), New Zealand composer and professor of music at Victoria University of Wellington, perhaps best remembered for her several major works for big groups including Under the Sun for four orchestras and 450 children, and the opera Hohepa
Irene Helen McAra McWilliam OBE, Scottish design researcher and academic, specialising in design innovation, Interim Director of the Glasgow School of Art since November 2018, former Professor and Business Fellow in Innovation at the Royal College of Art, and Professor of Design Research at Eindhoven University of Technology
Pamela Helen Stephen (1964-2021), British classical mezzo-soprano, who sang in operas and oratorios, born in Solihull in 1964
Nannie Helen Burroughs (1878-1961), American educator, orator, religious leader, civil rights activist, feminist and businesswoman, founder of the National Training School for Women and Girls in Washington, D.C
Patricia Helen Giles (1932-2021), Australian painter, known for her watercolour paintings of Tasmania's wild places and currawong motifs
Miss Alison Helen Falcon M.B.E., British Lieutenant Colonel for The Royal Logistic Corps for the Army Reserve was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire on 17th June 2017
Ms. Jessica Helen Cook B.E.M., British founding Director of Can You Hear Us? was appointed the British Empire Medal on 8th June 2018, for voluntary services to Neurofibromatosis Type 2 Patients 6
Mrs. Ruth Helen Jackson M.B.E., British Headteacher for Kitchener Primary School in Cardiff, was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire on 8th June 2018, for services to Education 7

Citations +

Hutchins, Fortescue, The History of Cornwall, from the Earliest Records and Traditions to the Present Time. London: William Penaluna, 1824. Print
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print
"Most Common Last Names in New Zealand." Forebears, https://forebears.io/new-zealand/surnames
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
"Birthday and New Year Honours Lists (1940 to 2019)." Issue 62310, 31 October 2019 | London Gazette, The Gazette, June 2018, https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/62310/supplement/B1
"Birthday and New Year Honours Lists (1940 to 2019)." Issue 62310, 4 July 2019 | London Gazette, The Gazette, June 2018, https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/62310/supplement/B1