What Does My Name Isabel Mean?

Isabel (Iz-a ~bel) is a variant of the name Elizabeth (Hebrew) and is of Spanish origin. The name basically implies devotion to God and the fulfillment of a promise and means God is Bountiful or God of plenty as also God's promise. There are a number of variants of the name like Bel, Belicia, Belita, Izzie, Isabella, Isabelle and Izabell.

Isabella of Castile (1451-1504) under whose reign Spain was at the height of its powers is a famous bearer of this name. The American novelist Henry James named the protagonist of his novel Portrait of a Lady as Isabel. In recent times actresses Isabelle Adjani and Isabella Rossellini and fashion designer Isabel Toledo have made the name a household one.    

Isabel is the medieval Spanish form of the popular name Elizabeth, which means "God's promise" in Hebrew. However this statement is opened to debate from few quarters who believe that the name Isabel is actually derived from an old Semitic name meaning "daughter of BA'AL". The name is usually conferred upon a girl from Spain, Portuguese, France, Germany and England.

In Spain, the name is pronounced as ee-sah-BEL; in French, ee-za-BEL; while in England, the name is pronounced as ee-zah-BEL. The name Isabel has 39 variant forms out of which Bella, Belle and Isabella are noteworthy. Queens of Portugal, Castile and a queen of England have been the recipients of this name. Isabel ranked 89th out of the top 1000 female names in US in the year 2005. It ranked 46th out of the of the top 1000 female names in Britain and Wales in the year 2005