Daily AncestorHel.
Hel. in old records is an abbreviation of the first name Helen.
Hel. is a clerk's cut of Helen, found in registers and lists where names were written quickly. Name lists for English records give it as Helen.
Indexes may keep the short form as written, so a search for Helen can miss a Hel. entry. Treat Hel. as a starting point and look for the name in full in another record.
As seen in a recordName column of the 1870 census
Hel. Brodie, 19, Servant, Scotland
Sources
How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "Hel.." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/abbreviations/hel. Last checked 2026-10-12.