Ilona

Ilona is a feminine given name used primarily in Hungary and Finland, as well as in other parts of Central and Eastern Europe.
The name Ilona is the Hungarian form of the Greek name Helenē, which is commonly interpreted to mean “torch,” “light,” or “shining one.” The name likely entered Hungarian through Slavic intermediaries such as Jelena.
In Hungarian folklore, Ilona is also known as the name of the Queen of the Fairies, a mythical figure associated with beauty, magic, and enchantment.
In Finland, Ilona is commonly associated with the Finnish word ilo, meaning “joy.” In this context, ilona can be understood as “as a joy ,” though this interpretation is a folk etymology and not linguistically related to the Greek origin.

People

Archduchess Ilona of Austria
Ilona Ács, Hungarian freestyle swimmer
Ilona Aczél, Hungarian actress
Ilona Andrássy, Hungarian noblewoman
Ilona Andrews, joint pen name of American novelist duo Ilona and Andrew Gordon
Ilona Banga, Hungarian biochemist
Ilona Bata, Hungarian rower
Ilona Békési, Hungarian artistic gymnast
Ilona Bell, American academic
Ilona Berecz, Hungarian ice dancing coach and former competitor
Ilona Béres, Hungarian actress
Ilona Biacsi, Hungarian Paralympic athlete
Ilona Borsai, Hungarian musicologist, folk music historian
Ilona Brand, German luger
Ilona Breģe, Latvian composer
Ilona Bruzsenyák, Hungarian athletics competitor
Ilona Bublová, Czech cross-country skier
Ilona Burgrová, Czech basketball player
Ilona Csáková, Czech pop singer
Ilona Csepreghyné-Meznerics, Hungarian stratigrapher and invertebrate paleontologist
Ilona Dajbukát, Hungarian actress
Ilona Dávid, Hungarian economist
Ilona DeVito di Porriasa, Hungarian-born countess
Ilona Duczyńska, Polish Hungarian Canadian revolutionary, journalist, translator, engineer and historian
Ilona Durigo, Hungarian classical contralto
Ilona Dzelme, Latvian windsurfer
Ilona Edelsheim-Gyulai, Hungarian noblewoman
Ilona Eibenschütz, Hungarian pianist
Ilona Ékes, Hungarian politician
Ilona Elek, Hungarian world and Olympic champion saber fencer
Ilona Fehér, Hungarian violinist and teacher
Ilona Felicjańska, Polish model
Ilona Georgiana Ghioroaie, Romanian tennis player
Ilona Gófitz, Hungarian conjoined twin
Ilona Graenitz, Austrian MP and MEP
Ilona Granet, American artist
Ilona Gusenbauer, Austrian high jumper
Ilona Harima, Finnish artist
Ilona Hegedűs, Hungarian writer
Ilona Hlaváčková, Czech swimmer
Ilona Hoeksma, Dutch cyclist
Ilona Hubay, Hungarian incunabula specialist
Ilona Jokinen, Finnish opera singer
Ilona Jurševska, Latvian politician
Ilona Kabos, Hungarian-British pianist
Ilona Karmel, American writer
Ilona Kassai, Hungarian actress
Ilona Katliarenka, Belarusian synchronized swimmer
Ilona Kerekes, Hungarian table tennis player
Ilona Keserü, Hungarian artist
Ilona Khubaeva, South Ossetian politician
Ilona Kickbusch, German scientist
Ilona Király, Hungarian table tennis player
Ilona Kökény, Hungarian actress
Ilona Kolonits, Hungarian film director and news correspondent
Ilona Korstin, Russian basketball player
Ilona Koutny, Hungarian linguist and Esperantist
Ilona Kovács, Hungarian basketball player
Ilona Kremen, Belarusian tennis player
Ilona Kronstein, Hungarian artist
Ilona Kurdy, Hungarian painter and sculptor
Ilona Lagas, Dutch politician
Ilona Lőrincz, Hungarian basketball player
Ilona Lucassen, Dutch judoka
Ilona Madary, Hungarian rhythmic gymnast
Ilona Mądra, Polish basketball player
Ilona Maher, American rugby player, 2020 Olympian with the USA Eagles Women's Rugby 7s squad
Ilona Makláry-Buzek, Hungarian volleyball player
Ilona Marhele, Latvian long-distance runner
Ilona Markova, Russian ice hockey player
Ilona Massey, Hungarian actress
Ilona Masson, Belgian athlete
Ilona Melnichenko, Soviet figure skater
Ilona Mihályka, Hungarian handball player
Ilona Mitrecey, French singer
Ilona Mokronowska, Polish rower
Ilona Mononen, Finnish athlete
Ilona Murai Kerman, American dancer
Ilona Náday, Hungarian singer and actress
Ilona Nagy, Hungarian handball player
Ilona Novák, Hungarian swimmer
Ilona Ostrowska, Polish actress
Ilona Otto, German Boice actress
Ilona M. Otto, climate change scientist
Ilona Pál, Hungarian sprinter
Ilona Palásti, Hungarian mathematician
Ilona Poljakova, Estonian tennis player
Ilona Prokopevniuk, Ukrainian freestyle swimmer
Ilona Prunyi, Hungarian music educator
Ilona Richter, German rower
Ilona Riipinen, Finnish physicist
Ilona Rodgers, English actress
Ilona Royce Smithkin, American artist, author, model and performer
Ilona Ruotsalainen, Finnish snowboarder
Ilona Sasváriné Paulik, Hungarian para table tennis player
Ilona Sekacz, British composer
Ilona Semkiv, Ukrainian freestyle swimmer
Ilona Senderek, Polish figure skater
Ilona Slupianek, retired world champion shot putter who competed for East Germany
Ilona Sojda, Polish singer
Ilona Staller, aka Cicciolina, Hungarian-born Italian porn-star, sometime politician, and singer
Ilona Štěpánová-Kurzová, Czech concert pianist and piano teacher
Ilona Stetina, Romanian educator and activist
Ilona Szabó de Carvalho, Brazilian political scientist
Ilona Szatmári Waldau, Swedish politician
Ilona Szilágyi, Hungarian princess consort of Wallachia as the second wife of Vlad III the Impaler
Ilona Szoyer, opera singer
Ilona Szwarc, Polish photographer
Ilona Timchenko, Russian pianist
Ilona Tolnai-Rákhely, Hungarian sprinter
Ilona Tóth, Hungarian dissident
Ilona Tőzsér, Hungarian sprint canoer
Ilona Tyuryaeva, Transnistrian politician
Ilona Uhlíková-Voštová, Czechoslovak table tennis player
Ilona Usovich, Belarusian sprinter
Ilona Váradi, Hungarian tennis player
Ilona Vargha, Hungarian fencer
Ilona Verley, Canadian drag performer
Ilona Vincze-Krausz, Hungarian-Israeli piano teacher
Ilona Vörösmarty, Hungarian noblewoman
Ilona Walta, Finnish footballer
Ilona Yudina, Ukrainian sitting volleyball player
Ilona Zeynalová, Azerbaijani rhythmic gymnast
Ilona Zrínyi, Hungarian-Croatian countess