Isabella
Meaning of Isabella
Isabella—pronounced iz-ə-BEL-ə in English and ee-za-BEL-la in Italian—represents the Latinate elaboration of the medieval Isabel, itself derived from the Hebrew Elisheba, “God is my oath,” and its trajectory through European history mirrors a sequence of dynastic exchanges that carried the name from Iberian and Italian courts into the wider Anglo-American onomastic repertoire. Regal exemplars such as Isabella I of Castile, the Renaissance Marchesa Isabella d’Este, and the Plantagenet Queen Isabella of Angoulême endowed the appellation with political and cultural gravitas, while literary incarnations—from Shakespeare’s morally resolute novice in Measure for Measure to the contemporary protagonist Isabella “Bella” Swan of the Twilight series—have periodically renewed its imaginative currency. These successive layers of religious etymology, royal patronage, and narrative visibility created a foundation for Isabella’s remarkable demographic ascent in the United States, where the name advanced from a rank outside the top 600 in 1990 to occupy the nation’s premier position in 2009 and 2010, thereafter maintaining a stable presence within the upper decile of the Social Security listings. Consequently, Isabella today conveys a composite identity: semantically anchored in a declaration of divine fidelity, historically authenticated by sovereign and artistic bearers, and empirically validated by sustained twenty-first-century popularity.
Pronunciation
Italian
- Pronunced as ee-zah-BEHL-lah (/i.zza.be.la//)
American English
- Pronunced as iz-uh-BEL-uh (/ɪz.ə.ˈbɛl.ə//)
U.S. Popularity Chart
States Popularity Chart
Notable People Named Isabella
| Isabella Rossellini is an Italian American actress and model, daughter of Ingrid Bergman and Roberto Rossellini, known for her Lancome campaigns, acclaimed US and European films, and nominations for the Academy Award, Golden Globes, BAFTA, and Emmys. |
| Isabella of Portugal, consort of Charles V, was Holy Roman Empress, Queen of Spain and Germany, Lady of the Netherlands, and regent of Spain during his long absences. |
| Isabella Blow was an English magazine editor who mentored Philip Treacy and discovered Stella Tennant, Sophie Dahl, and Alexander McQueen, whose Jack the Ripper inspired graduate collection she bought in full. |
| Isabella Fyvie Mayo was a pioneering Scottish writer and suffragist who wrote as Edward Garrett, became the first woman elected to a public board in Aberdeen, and was known for pacifist, anti imperialist, and anti racist activism. |
| Isabella Summers is an English Emmy-nominated composer and musician best known for shaping the sound of Florence and the Machine before moving into film and television scoring. |
| Isabella Dinsmore Greenway was the first congresswoman from Arizona, founded the Arizona Inn in Tucson, briefly owned Gilpin Airlines, spoke at the 1932 Democratic National Convention, and was a bridesmaid at Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt's wedding. |
| Isabella Castillo Diaz is a Cuban American actress and singer best known as the lead in the Nickelodeon series Grachi, with roles in Tierra de reyes, El Senor de los Cielos, Malverde El Santo Patron, and La Usurpadora The Musical. |
| Isabella Ormston Ford was an English social reformer, suffragist, and writer who championed female mill workers, organized unions in the 1880s, served on the Independent Labour Party council, and became the first woman to speak at a Labour Representation Committee conference. |
| Isabella Lövin - Isabella Lovin is a Swedish Green Party politician who was Minister for International Development Cooperation from 2014 to 2019, Minister for the Environment from 2019 to 2021, honorary deputy prime minister from 2016 to 2021, and co-led the party from 2016 to 2021 with Gustav Fridolin and later Per Bolund. |
| Isabella of Portugal, Queen of Castile - Isabella of Portugal, second wife of King John II, was Queen of Castile and Leon and mother of Queen Isabella I of Castile. |
| Isabella Helen Karle was an American chemist who transformed crystallography, speeding three dimensional structure determination, enabling new drugs and materials, and earning top honors including the National Medal of Science. |
| Isabella Hammad - British Palestinian author Isabella Mariam S. Hammad was named to the 2023 Granta Best of Young British Novelists list. |
| Isabella Löwengrip - Isabella Desiree Lowengrip, known as Blondinbella, is a Swedish entrepreneur, author, lecturer and blogger. |
| Isabella II of Jerusalem - Isabella II, also known as Isabella of Brienne and sometimes mistakenly called Yolanda, ruled Jerusalem from 1212 to 1228, succeeding her mother Maria of Montferrat and dying young before leaving a political mark. |
| Isabella of Clermont, also called Isabella of Taranto, was Queen of Naples as the first wife of King Ferdinand I of Naples and Princess of Taranto from 1463 to 1465. |
