Isabel

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Elizabeth in US United States, GB United Kingdom, AU Australia and 4 more, Elisabeth in NL Netherlands, DE Germany, SE Sweden and 2 more, Елизавета in RU Russia, KZ Kazakhstan, TR Türkiye and 1 more and Isabelle in FR France.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 17 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Isabel is also recorded as 4 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• English given name1.2M records spelled Isabel51 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Brazil, Venezuela, Germany

  Languages: English, German, Western Frisian

  Also written Erzsebet, Erzsébet, Isabèl, Isabél, Isaebel

• a separate given name121K records spelled Isabel2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Spain, United Kingdom, Ecuador

  Also written Isabél

• Finnish given name17K records spelled Isabel6 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Finland, Estonia, United States, Spain

  Languages: Finnish, Estonian

  Also written Erzsebet, Erzsébet

• a separate given name1.6K records spelled Isabel6 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Peru, Spain, Norway

  Also written Isãbël, Ïsäbêl, Isäbël, I̶s̶a̶b̶e̶l̶, Isâbęl

86 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Isabel is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In English, French form that entered England from the royal houses; became one of the first versions of Elizabeth used in Ireland.

  as a name·Irish first names

• In English, from Isabel, a form of Elizabeth, developed in Provence; first attested William Isabel 1275 SRWo

  as a name·A Dictionary of English Surnames

• from the female personal name Isabel (see Isbell). SSSSHES Isabel and Isabelle are documented as family names in Trois Rivieres, Quebec, in 1648. Other families, from Normandy, France, are documented in Sainte-Famille, Quebec, in 1669.

  as a name·Dictionary of American Family Names

• Of Spanish origin: a much altered version of (Elizabeth (see main dictionary). 4 284 -

  as a name·A concise dictionary of first names

• From Spanish. See main dictionary. Also: Isabelle.

  as a name·A concise dictionary of first names

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 146 years between 1880–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Isabella of Portugalb. 1428ESnot in their usual nameQueen of Castile
• Isabella I of Castileb. 1451ESnot in their usual namequeen of the Crown of Castile, from 1474 to 1504; first queen of a dynastically-united Spain, from 1479 to 1504 (1451–1504)
• Isabel de Portugalb. 1503PT16th-century Holy Roman Empress and Queen of Spain (1503-1539)
• Isabella Clara Eugenia of Spainb. 1566ESnot in their usual nameInfanta of Spain, Archduchess of Austria (1566-1633)
• Princess Isabella of Parmab. 1741ESnot in their usual nameArchduchess of Austria
• Isabel II de Españab. 1830ESQueen of Spain from 1833 to 1868
• Isabel Martínez de Perónb. 1931ARfirst female president of Argentina from 1974 to 1976
• Vivienne Westwoodb. 1941GBnot in their usual nameBritish fashion designer (1941–2022)
• Arantxa Sánchez Vicariob. 1971ESnot in their usual nameSpanish tennis player
• Shakirab. 1977COnot in their usual nameColombian singer-songwriter (born 1977)

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 1,695 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Isabel?

We estimate roughly 2.6 million people bear Isabel (counting its spellings and scripts) across 11 countries in our records.

In which country does Isabel have the most bearers?

Isabel is most frequently recorded in Argentina, where it is most often spelled isabel.

Where is Isabel most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Isabel is densest in Sweden — about 1 in 48 people — even though Argentina holds more of our records for it.

How common is Isabel compared with other names?

In Argentina, Isabel is the 36th most common given name of 517,176 given names recorded there.

Is Isabel a male or female name?

Isabel is a female name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Isabel mean?

Recorded meaning: From Hebrew Elisheba via Greek; 'God is my oath', 'consecrated by an oath to God'.