Helfand comes from elephant. The story goes that in Europe, people lived in buildings (or streets) identified by pictures of animals. Therefore, my anscestors lived in a building (or on a street) with a picture of an elephant on it.
I heard this theory from a history professor who taught at the University of Toronto.
This theory in my opinion is the most far fetched, but it is written in a book about the origins of Jewish family names. It says that my ancestors had a family crest which included a picture of a camel. When we made our way to Europe, the Europeans did not know what a camel was (since they had never seen one), and mistook it for an elephant. Thus, similar to theory #1, Helfand comes from elephant.
Helfand comes from the German "helfen" which means to help or lend a hand. To me, Helfand sounds like "helping hand". "Helfend" in German is an assistant. I like this theory as Helfands try to help other people. I also think that this is the most likely theory.