Isabella

The shift from “Elis-” to “Is-” likely occurred in Provenal or Catalan, where the unstressed initial syllable was dropped in rapid speech through a process linguists call apheresis.

Isabella of Castile (1451-1504), known as Isabella I or Isabella the Catholic, is the most historically consequential bearer of the name: she co-ruled Spain with Ferdinand II of Aragon, completed the Reconquista in 1492, authorized Christopher

Columbus’s first voyage, and established the Spanish Inquisition through papal authority.

Her reign made Isabella one of the most resonant royal names in European history, and it spread throughout the Spanish colonial world from Peru and Mexico to the Philippines.

In medieval England, the name Isabel was introduced by the Normans after 1066 and was among the most common women’s names in the 13th and 14th centuries, borne by queens and noblewomen across the Plantagenet era.

Isabella of France (c. 1295-1358), wife of Edward II of England, was a powerful political figure who deposed her husband and ruled England as regent, and has been the subject of extensive historical fiction and drama.

The fully Latinate form Isabella gained preference over Isabel in the 18th and 19th centuries in Britain and the United States as classical naming fashions favored the more elaborate, Italianate form.

The name saw a major 21st-century surge in the United States, reaching number 1 in 2009 and 2010, aided significantly by the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer, whose protagonist is Isabella “Bella” Swan.

The global success of the Twilight franchise - spanning 4 novels published 2005-2008 and 5 major films released 2008-2012 - introduced Isabella to a generation of parents who had grown up reading the books and watching the films.

Today Isabella ranks in the top 10 in the United States, Australia, and Canada, with the variant Isabel favored in Spain, Portugal, Brazil, and France.