B”H
Shalom Helena and thank you for your question!
Indeed Judaism places great importance on having a Jewish name, starting out with the assertion of the Sages that one of the reasons that the Jews merited to be redeemed from Egypt was because they didn’t change their Jewish names. Rabbi Moshe Shick of the early 1800’s maintains that having a Jewish name is part of fulfilling the Torah’s instruction to not follow the ways of the nations. The more recent rabbinic authority Rabbi Moshe Feinstein however, says that since we received the Torah and follow its precepts the issue of having a Jewish name is not as crucial.
The general consensus however, is that it IS preferable to have a Jewish name. Chassidic teaching is that a name is like a spiritual formula defining a person’s spiritual essence, and therefore it is preferable for a Jew to have a Jewish name because it affects the soul.
When people consulted the Lubavitcher Rebbe, his advice was sometimes to change the name, and sometimes just to add another name, the new Jewish name always having some similarity in sound and meaning to the name the person was originally given, since the non-Jewish name was also given by Divine Providence and thus has importance.
In 1992 a woman met the Rebbe and asked whether she should change her name, which was Heleny. The Rebbe answered that instead of Heleny she should change it to Helena, therefore there is no need to change your name.
It is also interesting to note that about 2000 years ago, there was a country called Adiabene, partially in the area of Syria, whose queen was called Helena. She and her sons converted to Judaism and she was a great supporter of the Temple, contributing a splendid chandelier among other things.
We wish you much success in all your endeavours!
