Isabella
Masculine · “From Hebrew Elisheva”
Isabella is given to girls far more often — 417,001 girls against 453 boys since 1880. See Isabella as a girl name
Isabella entered the US charts in 1997, peaked at #2316 in 2004, is rarely given in 2025 — given to only a few children a year.
How old is the name Isabella?
Isabella first appears in US birth records in 1997 — 28 years ago. The typical Isabella alive today was born around 2010, making them about 15 years old. About 400 people named Isabella are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Isabella most popular?
Isabella peaked in 2004, reaching #2316 nationally. See the whole 2004 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Elisheva to Isabella
The story of Isabella
Elisheva appears in the Hebrew Bible, passed into Greek as Elisabet, and from there into Latin and every Christian language of Europe. In medieval Occitan and Spanish speech the opening syllable softened and the final one dropped, leaving Isabel — treated for centuries as a name in its own right rather than a variant. Italian and Latin documents added the -a, and Isabella became the form used for noblewomen and royalty, among them Isabella d'Este in Renaissance Mantua and Isabella of Austria, queen consort of Denmark, Norway and Sweden. English took the name up through Norman and later continental contact, and has kept both Isabel and Isabella in circulation ever since.
Meaning
From Hebrew Elisheva, "my God is an oath"
Isabella is the Latinate form of Isabel, which arose in medieval Spain and southern France as a reshaping of Elizabeth. The Hebrew root Elisheva is standardly read "my God is an oath"; a minority reading gives "my God is abundance."
How the name formed
- Elisheva
- Elisabet
- Elizabeth
- Isabel
- Isabella
Related forms: Isabel · Isabelle · Isabel · Izabela · Izabella · Isobel
Pronouncing Isabella
iz-uh-BEL-uh
Stress on the third syllable. Spanish and Italian speakers keep the same shape, with a crisper first vowel: ee-sa-BEL-la.
Nicknames for Isabella
High
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1997
- Most boys named
- 200449 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2316reached in 2004
- Change vs 2023
- 0.0%8 in 2024, from 8
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Isabella in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Isabel in Spanish — same name
- Isabelle in French — same name
- Isabel in Portuguese — same name
- Izabela in Polish — same name
- Izabella in Hungarian — spelling variant
- Isobel in Scottish — related form
Isabellas among us
people named Isabella are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Isabella sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
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What they receive
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Isabella
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Isabellas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 400 people named Isabella are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Isabella in 2025?
- Isabella is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Isabella with classmates?
- Isabella will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More I names
The most-given names starting with I, all years combined.
Isaac#47 · Ian#83 · Isaiah#57 · Ivan#162 · Israel#315 · Ira#819 · Irving#1778 · Ismael#263
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Isabella? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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