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I like Helena (said like Helen + a). Hel is a good nickname for occasional use but it would be weird to introduce yourself to a new person as Hel because it sounds like your name is "hell".
It also has the same problem as Rach (like raych) for Rachel-- it makes sense as a nickname, but sentences like "hi, my name is Rach" or "Rach said I could borrow her car" sound weird or off somehow. Other short nicknames make sense, you can easily introduce yourself as a nickname like Matt, Ben, Will, etc. or talk about people using those names and it sounds normal. But even without sounding like hell, Hel doesn't sound namey enough to be someone's official nickname. Nicknames like that only work when you're actually addressing the person.