Isabel

Meaning: My God is an oath
Origin: Spanish (from Hebrew, via Greek and Latin)

Nicknames: Libby, Izzy

Girl's name · #177 in the US (2025) · 2000s wave

Popularity over time

Isabel's best rank, #83, came in 2003; it has settled back to #177 today. Roughly 132,000 girls have been named Isabel since 1880. In all that time it has never once missed a year of the national records.

Across the states

See where Isabel is more common.

Appears in 2020-2025 birth records of 48 states. See the full state-by-state map on this page.

Around the world

See how Isabel ranks in other countries and regions.

#63 in Spain (2024) · #78 in Mexico (2024) · #89 in Netherlands (2025) · #122 in New Zealand (2025) · #127 in Ireland (2025) · #178 in Ecuador (2025) · #182 in Puerto Rico (2025) · #184 in England & Wales (2025) · #192 in Austria (2025) · #214 in Scotland (2025) · #234 in Sweden (2025) · #277 in N. Ireland (2025) and 5 more.

Famous Isabels

Isabel Allende — Chilean writer (born 1942)
Isabel Martínez de Perón — First female president of Argentina from 1974 to 1976
Isabel of Aragon — Queen consort of Portugal (1470–1498)
Isabel Lucas — Australian actress and model
Isabel Coixet — Spanish film director and screenwriter

In stories & tradition

Isabel Evans — Roswell High (novel)
Isabel^hu — Lost (TV series)
Isabel Marshall — Fantasy Island (TV series)

What Isabels become

Among 2,129 notable people named Isabel:

Medical professionals appear 2.06× more often than among typical names — e.g. Isabel Emslie Hutton, British doctor.

Spellings & nicknames

Together with its spelling variant Isabelle (#166), Isabel would rank around #64 with about 3,600 births last year — the newborns split about 51/49 between Isabelle and Isabel.

About 220 girls a year are given Libby as their full name and 110 Izzy.

Similar names: Isabelle · Gabriela · Yesenia · Valeria · Angel · Daniela

Browse more girl names — popularity, trends and eras for 5,700+ American names, free.

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