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If meanings are important to you, halen means to fetch in Dutch. The surname van Halen means: from de village of Halen. I agree with Pickles, it's difficult to take it seriously as a first name.

It looks like Helen. I do love Helen.

I like it much better than Haley. Thanks for sharing.

Van Halen, certainly; but my first thought was that it could be a masculine 'version' of Helen. I would expect a lot of confusion about that.

Van Halen was my first thought before even opening your post! I surprisingly like Halen, it has a cool vibe.

This message was edited 3/7/2024, 11:31 AM

Don't really like it, surname as first name

I agree with Chloe. It fits trends but just a Dutch surname.

I actually really like it!

Definitely fits in with "star surname names" trend like Beckham, Harlow, Monroe, Bowie, Lennon, Jagger, Hendrix, Cohen etc. It's not a bad sound, sort of similar to the -ayden trend as well. I think it would blend it pretty well. I would definitely think the parent is a Van Halen superfan, but the kid's peers probably won't know anything about it, which could be a good thing.

Pamela Smart had a dog named Halen because she was a big Van Halen fan.

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Anyway, I think it would fit right in with more current naming trends, but being as old as I am, I would instantly think of Van Halen. Not a bad thing, I just wouldn't be able to take it seriously as a first name unless I knew the person.