Saints Constantine and Helen are the heavenly patrons of more than 1.5 million Romanians.
According to data from the Directorate for Persons Records within Romania’s Ministry of Internal Affairs, 1,514,907 Romanians bear the names of Saints Constantine and Helen or related variants.
Of these, nearly one million are women bearing the names of the two saints commemorated on 21 May. The most common female name is Elena, borne by more than 800,000 people, followed by Lenuța, with approximately 60,000, and Constanța, with more than 38,000. Other related names include Constantina, Ela, Eleonora, Helena, Ilinca, Nora, Tanța and Tina.
Among the approximately 516,500 men who bear the name of the Byzantine emperor saint, Constantin is the most widespread, with more than 400,000 bearers, followed by Costel, with over 73,000. The name Costică is borne by around 23,000 people, while other related names include Costache and Tinel.
Saints Constantine and his mother Helen were given the title “Equal-to-the-Apostles” for their contributions to the growth of Christianity and to the freedom of its public confession.
They are also the heavenly patrons of the historic Patriarchal Cathedral in Bucharest.
Photo: Basilica.ro / Raluca-Emanuela Ene
