FastNamesIsabella
Hebrew, Spanish and Italian name meaning "Romance elaboration of Isabel, the medieval Spanish and Provençal form of biblical Hebrew Elisheba (אֱלִישֶׁבַע), meaning 'my God is an oath' or 'God is abundance'.". Ranked 7th for girls in 2025.
Meaning and origin of Isabella
Romance elaboration of Isabel, the medieval Spanish and Provençal form of biblical Hebrew Elisheba (אֱלִישֶׁבַע), meaning 'my God is an oath' or 'God is abundance'.
Linguistically, Isabella is classified under Hebrew, Spanish and Italian naming traditions. It is typically pronounced "iz-uh-BEL-uh".
Popularity and ranking
In official US Social Security birth records from 1880 through 2025, Isabella has been given to a total of 417,001 girls. It has also been given to 453 boys.
Peak year: Isabella reached its highest relative share among girls in 2010, when 22,936 babies received the name (12,903 per million births).
All-time best rank: 1st place, first achieved in 2009.
Recent standing (2025): Ranked 7th with 10,666 births. Ten years earlier in 2015, it ranked 5th (down 2 spots).
Busiest decade: More girls were named Isabella in the 2010s than in any other decade (170,605 births).
| Decade | Recorded births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 603 |
| 1890s | 903 |
| 1900s | 1,038 |
| 1910s | 2,046 |
| 1920s | 2,095 |
| 1930s | 1,079 |
| 1940s | 774 |
| 1950s | 590 |
| 1960s | 429 |
| 1970s | 296 |
| 1980s | 567 |
| 1990s | 18,762 |
| 2000s | 149,571 |
| 2010s | 170,605 |
| 2020s | 67,643 |
Source: Social Security Administration, national baby name data, data through 2025. Names given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year aren't published, so totals are a little lower than actual births.
Where Isabella is most common in the US
Accounting for when Isabella was in fashion nationally, it has been most heavily concentrated in the following states (measured against the expected rate from each state's births):
- Rhode Island: 2.0 times the national rate (1,837 births since 1910).
- Connecticut: 1.5 times the national rate (5,391 births since 1910).
- Delaware: 1.5 times the national rate (1,135 births since 1910).
- Florida: 1.4 times the national rate (33,744 births since 1910).
- Massachusetts: 1.3 times the national rate (10,222 births since 1910).
Source: Social Security Administration, baby names by state, data through 2025. Names given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a state in a year aren't published, so totals are a little lower than actual births.
How many people have the name Isabella?
About 406,000 living American girls and women share the name Isabella. Additionally, an estimated 450 living American boys and men share the name.
The median age of an American named Isabella is 15 years old.
Estimated from Social Security Administration records (1880–2025) and official SSA cohort mortality tables.
History of the name Isabella
Isabella developed through medieval linguistic shifts across the Mediterranean basin. The biblical Hebrew name Elisheba ('my God is an oath') was rendered in Hellenistic Greek as Elisabet, which entered Vulgar Latin and transformed in southern France and northern Spain into Isabel, substituting the final dental consonant with an -l. In Italy and Iberia, the Latin feminine suffix -a was affixed, creating the melodious form Isabella.
The name carried prestigious royal credentials throughout medieval and early modern Europe. It was borne by Isabella of Angoulême, queen of King John of England; Isabella of France, queen consort of Edward II; and Queen Isabella I of Castile (1451–1504), whose marriage to Ferdinand II of Aragon united Spain and who financed Christopher Columbus's historic 1492 voyage to the Americas.
In United States demographic history, Isabella staged one of the most astonishing rises in modern vital statistics. Having lingered near the lower end of the top 1,000 for much of the twentieth century, it ignited in the late 1990s, leaping from rank 894 in 1990 into the national top ten in 2004. In 2009 and 2010, Isabella claimed the coveted number one ranking as the most popular baby name for girls in the United States, remaining a premier choice nationwide.
Notable people named Isabella
- Isabella I of Castile (1451–1504), Queen of Castile and León who unified Spain
- Isabella Rossellini (1952–), Italian-American actress, filmmaker, and model
- Isabella Stewart Gardner (1840–1924), American art collector and museum founder
- Isabella Bird (1831–1904), English explorer, writer, and naturalist
Variants and related names
Spelling variants
Diminutives and nicknames
Related names
Sources and references
- Patrick Hanks, Kate Hardcastle, Flavia Hodges. A Dictionary of First Names (2006), p. 131.
- E. G. Withycombe. The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names (1977), p. 164.
- Albert Dauzat. Dictionnaire des noms de famille et prénoms de France (1980), p. 338.