Isabel
Encyclopedia
Isabel is a Romance-language given name
. It is related to Isabelle
(French, Dutch, German), Catalan
, Provençal), Isabella (Italian), and the English Elizabeth
.
. It also comes from the Latin "Helizabeth". It first appeared in medieval Provençal as Elisabel. It is clear both etymologically and contextually (the use of Isabel as a translation of the name of the mother of John the Baptist
) that these names are derived from the Latin and Greek renderings of the Hebrew name.
According to Hanks/Hodges (166), the name is simply the Spanish and Portuguese form of Elizabeth, with loss of the first syllable and /l/ instead of /t/ (the latter sound does not appear word-finally in standard Spanish).Some people believed that this form of her name was first established sometime around 400 B.C. Some Romance languages now have both forms of the name concurrently. For example, Isabella and Elisabetta exist in Italian; Isabelle and Élisabeth exist in French.
An alternative etymology would suggest the ending -bel(la) comes from the Latin word bella "beautiful
" (though it may be noted that it may also be translated as "wars"), while the origin of Isa- is somewhat uncertain, it may derive from a name, such as Isis
, or Ye(ho)shua
(known as Isa in Islam
).
Still another suggests that it comes from the Phoenician name 'Iyzebel
by a different route than that of the latter's most famous possessor; perhaps most likely is that "Isabel" is the result of a Hebrew, Phoenician, or Latinate name mutating under the influence of one of the other languages or of a similar name from one of the other sources, much like "Katharine
."
Variants in other languages include the Scottish
Isobel, the Scottish Gaelic Ishbel, the Danish
Elsebeth and the Polish
Izabela.
Isabella, Isabel, Bella and other variants of the name have been popular in English-speaking countries in the past five years. When Isabella became the most popular name used for girls born in the United States in 2009, many newspaper articles attributed its rise in popularity to the character Isabella Swan in the Twilight series
by Stephenie Meyer
. The name's popularity had been rising prior to the publication of the series, but the books increased its usage. Meyer indicated in interviews that she chose the name for her main character that she would have used for a daughter if she had had one.
Given name
A given name, in Western contexts often referred to as a first name, is a personal name that specifies and differentiates between members of a group of individuals, especially in a family, all of whose members usually share the same family name...
. It is related to Isabelle
Isabelle
Isabelle is a French feminine given name. It may refer to :* Isabella of France , a disambiguation page* Isabelle of Luxembourg , a daughter of Henry V of Luxembourg and his wife Margaret of Bar...
(French, Dutch, German), Catalan
Catalan language
Catalan is a Romance language, the national and only official language of Andorra and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencian , as well as in the city of Alghero, on the Italian island...
, Provençal), Isabella (Italian), and the English Elizabeth
Elizabeth (given name)
Elizabeth is a feminine given name derived from the Greek Elisávet , which is a form of the Hebrew name Elisheva , meaning "My God is an oath" or"My God is abundance."...
.
Etymology
This set of names is a southwestern European variant of the Hebrew name ElishevaElisheva
Elisheva or Elisheba was the wife of Aaron "the priest" , the forefather of the Kohanim, the Jewish priests, in the Bible. She is a daughter of Amminadab, and a sister of Nahshon, from the Tribe of Judah. According to later Jewish tradition, she is buried in the Tomb of the Matriarchs in Tiberias...
. It also comes from the Latin "Helizabeth". It first appeared in medieval Provençal as Elisabel. It is clear both etymologically and contextually (the use of Isabel as a translation of the name of the mother of John the Baptist
Elizabeth (Biblical person)
Elizabeth is also spelled Elisabeth or Elisheva...
) that these names are derived from the Latin and Greek renderings of the Hebrew name.
According to Hanks/Hodges (166), the name is simply the Spanish and Portuguese form of Elizabeth, with loss of the first syllable and /l/ instead of /t/ (the latter sound does not appear word-finally in standard Spanish).Some people believed that this form of her name was first established sometime around 400 B.C. Some Romance languages now have both forms of the name concurrently. For example, Isabella and Elisabetta exist in Italian; Isabelle and Élisabeth exist in French.
An alternative etymology would suggest the ending -bel(la) comes from the Latin word bella "beautiful
Beauty
Beauty is a characteristic of a person, animal, place, object, or idea that provides a perceptual experience of pleasure, meaning, or satisfaction. Beauty is studied as part of aesthetics, sociology, social psychology, and culture...
" (though it may be noted that it may also be translated as "wars"), while the origin of Isa- is somewhat uncertain, it may derive from a name, such as Isis
Isis
Isis or in original more likely Aset is a goddess in Ancient Egyptian religious beliefs, whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. She was worshipped as the ideal mother and wife as well as the matron of nature and magic...
, or Ye(ho)shua
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
(known as Isa in Islam
Islamic view of Jesus
In Islam, Jesus is considered to be a Messenger of God and the Masih who was sent to guide the Children of Israel with a new scripture, the Injīl or Gospel. The belief in Jesus is required in Islam, and a requirement of being a Muslim. The Qur'an mentions Jesus twenty-five times, more often, by...
).
Still another suggests that it comes from the Phoenician name 'Iyzebel
Jezebel
Jezebel may refer to:* Jezebel, wife of King Ahab*Jezebel, in the Book of Revelation 2:20 a prophetess in the church of Thyatira* Jezebel , starring Bette Davis and Henry Fonda* Jezebel , a blog aimed at women...
by a different route than that of the latter's most famous possessor; perhaps most likely is that "Isabel" is the result of a Hebrew, Phoenician, or Latinate name mutating under the influence of one of the other languages or of a similar name from one of the other sources, much like "Katharine
Katherine (given name)
Katherine is a feminine name, which is popular in historically Christian countries, owing to its having been the name of one of the first Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria.-Origin and meaning:...
."
Variants in other languages include the Scottish
Scots language
Scots is the Germanic language variety spoken in Lowland Scotland and parts of Ulster . It is sometimes called Lowland Scots to distinguish it from Scottish Gaelic, the Celtic language variety spoken in most of the western Highlands and in the Hebrides.Since there are no universally accepted...
Isobel, the Scottish Gaelic Ishbel, the Danish
Danish language
Danish is a North Germanic language spoken by around six million people, principally in the country of Denmark. It is also spoken by 50,000 Germans of Danish ethnicity in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where it holds the status of minority language...
Elsebeth and the Polish
Polish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
Izabela.
Isabella, Isabel, Bella and other variants of the name have been popular in English-speaking countries in the past five years. When Isabella became the most popular name used for girls born in the United States in 2009, many newspaper articles attributed its rise in popularity to the character Isabella Swan in the Twilight series
Twilight series
Twilight is a series of four vampire-themed fantasy romance novels by American author Stephenie Meyer. It charts a period in the life of Isabella "Bella" Swan, a teenage girl who moves to Forks, Washington, and falls in love with a 104-year-old vampire named Edward Cullen...
by Stephenie Meyer
Stephenie Meyer
Stephenie Meyer is an American author known for her vampire romance series Twilight. The Twilight novels have gained worldwide recognition and sold over 100 million copies globally, with translations into 37 different languages...
. The name's popularity had been rising prior to the publication of the series, but the books increased its usage. Meyer indicated in interviews that she chose the name for her main character that she would have used for a daughter if she had had one.
Other royalty
- Isabella d'AnjouIsabella d'AnjouMatilda of Anjou, born as Isabella d'Anjou or Alice, was married in 1119 to William Adelin, son and heir of Henry I of England. She was the daughter of Count Fulk V of Anjou, and his first wife Ermengarde, Countess of Maine .Their betrothal occurred when she was no more than eight years old...
(c. 1101/1107–1154), Abbess of Fontevrault, wife of William Adelin. - Isabella of EnglandIsabella of EnglandFor Isabella of England, the daughter of Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault, see Isabella de Coucy.Isabella of England, also called Elizabeth was an English princess and, by marriage, Holy Roman Empress, German Queen, and Queen consort of Sicily.-Biography:She was the fourth child but...
(1214 – December 1, 1241) daughter of King John of England and Isabella of Angoulême, wife of Frederick IIFrederick II, Holy Roman EmperorFrederick II , was one of the most powerful Holy Roman Emperors of the Middle Ages and head of the House of Hohenstaufen. His political and cultural ambitions, based in Sicily and stretching through Italy to Germany, and even to Jerusalem, were enormous...
Hohenstaufen 'Stupor Mundi', Holy Roman Emperor. - Isabella of AntiochIsabella of AntiochIsabella of Cyprus, also known as Isabelle de Lusignan , was the Princess of Antioch by her marriage. She was also Regent of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.-Family:...
(13th century), regent of Jerusalem. - Isabella of MarIsabella of MarIsabella of Mar was the first wife of Robert the Bruce and the grandmother of Robert II of Scotland, founder of the royal House of Stuart...
(c. 1277–1296), first wife of Robert I of ScotlandRobert I of ScotlandRobert I , popularly known as Robert the Bruce , was King of Scots from March 25, 1306, until his death in 1329.His paternal ancestors were of Scoto-Norman heritage , and...
. - Princess Isabella of ArmeniaPrincess Isabella of ArmeniaPrincess Isabella, Isabelle or Zabel of Armenia was the daughter of Leo II of Armenia. Originally she was promised in marriage to the King Andrew II of Hungary when he was returning home from the Fifth Crusade, but the wedding plan was eventually abandoned.She was married at Nicosia in 1292/1293...
(died c. 1321). - Princess Isabella of PortugalIsabella of PortugalIsabella of Portugal was a Portuguese Princess and Holy Roman Empress, Duchess of Burgundy, and a Queen Regent/Consort of Spain. She was the daughter of Manuel I of Portugal and Maria of Aragon. By her marriage to Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, Isabella was also Holy Roman Empress and Queen...
(1397–1471), wife and political advisor of Philip III, Duke of BurgundyPhilip III, Duke of BurgundyPhilip the Good KG , also Philip III, Duke of Burgundy was Duke of Burgundy from 1419 until his death. He was a member of a cadet line of the Valois dynasty . During his reign Burgundy reached the height of its prosperity and prestige and became a leading center of the arts...
. - Isabella, Duchess of LorraineIsabella, Duchess of LorraineIsabella was suo jure Duchess of Lorraine, from 25 January 1431 to her death in 1453. She was the first wife of Duke Rene of Anjou, King of Naples, and the mother of his children, which included Margaret of Anjou, Queen consort of England as the wife of Henry VI.From 1435 to 1442, Isabella was...
(1400–1453). - Isabella of BourbonIsabella of BourbonIsabella of Bourbon, Countess of Charolais was the second wife of Charles the Bold, Count of Charolais and future Duke of Burgundy. She was a daughter of Charles I, Duke of Bourbon and Agnes of Burgundy, and the mother of Mary of Burgundy, heiress of Burgundy.-Life:Not much is known about her life...
(1436–1465), wife of Charles, Duke of Burgundy. - Marchioness Isabella d'EsteIsabella d'EsteIsabella d'Este was Marchesa of Mantua and one of the leading women of the Italian Renaissance as a major cultural and political figure. She was a patron of the arts as well as a leader of fashion, whose innovative style of dressing was copied by women throughout Italy and at the French court...
(1474–1539), wife of Francesco II of Gonzaga. - Isabella Jagiellon (1519–1559), wife of John Szapolyai.
- Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia of SpainInfanta Isabella Clara Eugenia of SpainIsabella Clara Eugenia of Austria was sovereign of the Spanish Netherlands in the Low Countries and the north of modern France, together with her husband Albert. In some sources, she is referred to as Clara Isabella Eugenia...
(1566–1633), wife of ArchdukeArchdukeThe title of Archduke denotes a noble rank above Duke and below King, used only by princes of the Houses of Habsburg and Habsburg-Lorraine....
Albert of Austria. - Isabel, Princess Imperial of BrazilIsabel, Princess Imperial of BrazilDona Isabel , nicknamed "the Redemptress", was the heiress presumptive to the throne of the Empire of Brazil, bearing the title of Princess Imperial....
(1846–1921) — Princess Imperial of Brazil, daughter of Pedro II of BrazilPedro II of BrazilDom Pedro II , nicknamed "the Magnanimous", was the second and last ruler of the Empire of Brazil, reigning for over 58 years. Born in Rio de Janeiro, he was the seventh child of Emperor Dom Pedro I of Brazil and Empress Dona Maria Leopoldina and thus a member of the Brazilian branch of...
, abolished slavery in BrazilBrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
. - Isabelle, Comtesse de ParisIsabelle, comtesse de ParisPrincess Isabelle of Orléans-Braganza , became by marriage duchess of Orléans, of Valois, of Chartres, of Guise, of Enghien, of Vendôme, of Penthièvre, of Aumale, of Nemours and of Montpensier, dauphine of Auvergne, princess of Joinville, princess of Condé, etc., titular Countess of...
(1911–2003). - Princess Isabella of DenmarkPrincess Isabella of DenmarkPrincess Isabella Henrietta Ingrid Margrethe of Denmark, Countess of Monpezat , is a member of the Danish Royal Family. She is the daughter of Crown Prince Frederik and his wife, the Australian-born Crown Princess Mary....
(born 2007)
Other famous people
- Isabel AllendeIsabel AllendeIsabel Allende Llona is a Chilean writer with American citizenship. Allende, whose works sometimes contain aspects of the "magic realist" tradition, is famous for novels such as The House of the Spirits and City of the Beasts , which have been commercially successful...
, ChileChileChile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
an author and niece of Salvador AllendeSalvador AllendeSalvador Allende Gossens was a Chilean physician and politician who is generally considered the first democratically elected Marxist to become president of a country in Latin America....
. - Isabel BayrakdarianIsabel BayrakdarianIsabel Bayrakdarian is a Grammy Award-nominated Armenian Canadian opera singer.-Early life:Born in Lebanon in 1974, she moved to Canada as a teenager. Bayrakdarian graduated in 1997 from the University of Toronto with an honours B.A.Sc...
, Canadian-Armenian lyric soprano - Isabella ClarkIsabella ClarkIsabella Macdonald, née Clark was the first wife of John A. Macdonald, the premier of the Province of Canada in 1856. She was Macdonald's first cousin....
, wife of Prime Minister of CanadaPrime Minister of CanadaThe Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...
Sir John A. Macdonald. - Isabel Godin des Odonais, traveler in the Amazon BasinAmazon BasinThe Amazon Basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries that drains an area of about , or roughly 40 percent of South America. The basin is located in the countries of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, and Venezuela...
. - Isabel Martínez de PerónIsabel Martínez de PerónMaría Estela Martínez Cartas de Perón , better known as Isabel Martínez de Perón or Isabel Perón, is a former President of Argentina. She was also the third wife of another former President, Juan Perón...
, President of ArgentinaPresident of ArgentinaThe President of the Argentine Nation , usually known as the President of Argentina, is the head of state of Argentina. Under the national Constitution, the President is also the chief executive of the federal government and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces.Through Argentine history, the...
(1974–1976) and third wife of Juan PerónJuan PerónJuan Domingo Perón was an Argentine military officer, and politician. Perón was three times elected as President of Argentina though he only managed to serve one full term, after serving in several government positions, including the Secretary of Labor and the Vice Presidency...
. - Ishbel Hamilton-Gordon, Marchioness of Aberdeen and TemairIshbel Hamilton-Gordon, Marchioness of Aberdeen and TemairIshbel Maria Hamilton-Gordon, Marchioness of Aberdeen and Temair, GBE was a Scottish author, philanthropist and an advocate of woman's interests.-Family:...
, authour.
Ships
- Isabella, a ship sunk in the Falkland Islands in 1813.
Places
- Mount IshbelMount IshbelMount Ishbel is a mountain peak in Alberta, Canada.The peak is located in the Sawback Range in Alberta's Rockies, north of the Bow Valley Parkway and east of Johnston Canyon....
, AlbertaAlbertaAlberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
, CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. - Ishbel GroupIshbel GroupThe Ishbel Group is a stratigraphical unit of Permian age in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin.It was first defined by A. McGugan in 1963...
, Western Canadian Sedimentary BasinWestern Canadian Sedimentary BasinThe Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin is a vast sedimentary basin underlying of Western Canada including southwestern Manitoba, southern Saskatchewan, Alberta, northeastern British Columbia and the southwest corner of the Northwest Territories. It consists of a massive wedge of sedimentary rock...
. - Sanibel IslandSanibel IslandSanibel Island is an island located on the Gulf coast of Florida, just offshore of Fort Myers. In 2000, it had an estimated population of 6,064 people...
, FloridaFloridaFlorida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
(derived from Spanish San Ybel<Santa Isybella, variant of English "Saint Isabel").
See also
- Isabel (disambiguation)Isabel (disambiguation)Isabel is a feminine given name. Isabel or Isabelle may also refer to:- People :* Isabel of Gloucester Isabel (French variation, Isabelle) is a feminine given name. Isabel or Isabelle may also refer to:- People :* Isabel of Gloucester Isabel (French variation, Isabelle) is a feminine given name....
- A comprehensive list of article names that begin with Isabel
- A comprehensive list of article names that begin with Isabella
- A comprehensive list of article names that begin with Isabelle