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Girl · Hebrew, through Occitan and Spanish
Isabel
Say it: IZ-uh-bel
Meaning
A medieval Occitan and Spanish form of Elisabeth, from Hebrew Elisheva 'my God is an oath'.
Certainscholars agree on this meaning.
Brought to England by royal brides in the 13th and 14th centuries and soon common in all ranks; in English records it was the usual form of Elizabeth until the Tudor period.
Its wave through time
A revival, back after decades away
In the United States
- 124,800 babies given this name since 1880
- At its height in 2003, about 1 in 474 girls
- 1,756 babies in 2020
Through the ages
- The High and Late Middle Ages1100 to 1450
- The Renaissance1400 to 1600
- The Colonial Americas1500 to 1800
- Victorian and Belle Époque1837 to 1914
- The Modern Age1880 to today
Used by
EnglishFrenchSpanishScottishPortugueseCatalanMexicanCentral AmericanAndeanArgentineCaribbeanBrazilian
The family of the name
Other spellings: Isabell, Isabella, Isobel, Ysabel, Isabela, Chabela
| Spanish | Isabel |
|---|---|
| Italian | Isabella |
| French | Isabelle |
| Scottish Gaelic | Iseabail |
| Galician | Sabela |
| Basque | Elixabete |
| English | Elizabeth |
Famous bearers
- Isabella of Angoulême, queen of King John
- Isabella of France, queen of Edward II
- Isabella I of Castile, the Catholic Monarch
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- Royal and noble genealogies
- English poll taxes and lay subsidy rolls (13th and 14th centuries)
- Medieval European charters and records
- Medieval Spanish and Portuguese chronicles and charters
- National birth statistics of European countries source
- The Hebrew Bible and the New Testament
- Parish baptism registers
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.
Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.