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ArchivesIsabella & Isabelle
So yeah they're both forms of Isabel, but could they be, by any chance, based on or influenced by the words bella/belle (beautiful)?
You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
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The Elisabeth > El-Isabeth > Isabeth > Isabel hypothesis is more likely in more opinion. Keep in mind that many biblical names (like Elizabeth) end in -el and -bel (Abel, Jezebel, Mehitabel, Rachel, Michael, Gabriel), which could explain the change (since the [th] sound doesn't exist in romance languages).
And in Provençal the feminine of beautiful is "bela" - the name should have been Isabela. And there are many names that end in -bel and have nothing to do with "beauty" - Amabel and Mabel, for instance.
And in Provençal the feminine of beautiful is "bela" - the name should have been Isabela. And there are many names that end in -bel and have nothing to do with "beauty" - Amabel and Mabel, for instance.
This message was edited 9/30/2012, 3:29 PM
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Thanks, but
I meant that in certain cultures when Isabel was translated could belle or bella have ever been an influence on the name, in the same way this spelling of Rachael is (apparently) influenced by the -ael of Michael. It's a rather odd theory that someone I know has (which has been bugging me for a while).
I meant that in certain cultures when Isabel was translated could belle or bella have ever been an influence on the name, in the same way this spelling of Rachael is (apparently) influenced by the -ael of Michael. It's a rather odd theory that someone I know has (which has been bugging me for a while).
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If you're talking about the popularity of Isabelle/Isabella in recent years in the U.S., I could see it being a factor.
Isabelle first enters the SSA list in 1991 after not being in the top 1000 for almost 40 years (as an aside - my mother, born during this hiatus period, still thinks of Isabelle as a very dated/"old lady" name!) That was the same year that Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" came out, featuring main character Belle as "Beauty".
So I think the popularity of the Disney movie, and the connection of Belle = Beauty in people's minds, could have led to Isabelle becoming popular.
Isabelle first enters the SSA list in 1991 after not being in the top 1000 for almost 40 years (as an aside - my mother, born during this hiatus period, still thinks of Isabelle as a very dated/"old lady" name!) That was the same year that Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" came out, featuring main character Belle as "Beauty".
So I think the popularity of the Disney movie, and the connection of Belle = Beauty in people's minds, could have led to Isabelle becoming popular.
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Oddly, I just noticed that Isabella shows a similar pattern on the SSA list (off it for the same 40 year gap as Isabelle, then back in 1990), but Isabel has never been off the list, just hovering at #400-500 for those years, and a correspondingly more gradual recent rise.
I wonder why that is? Why would Isabel be used when Isabella and Isabelle were clearly not? Maybe that is the subject of another thread?
I wonder why that is? Why would Isabel be used when Isabella and Isabelle were clearly not? Maybe that is the subject of another thread?
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Yes, I suppose it could be a factor. Though I'm more inclined to say that in French and Italian traditional feminine names never end in "el", so you need to add the "e" or the "a" to feminize the spelling (like in Gabriel/Gabrielle, Michel/Michelle/Michèle, Raffaelle/Raffaella).
Did people come to associate "beauty" with the name? Very likely (the same way Agnes was associated with "angus", lamb). But St Elizabeth was a popular saint, not to mention all of the Queens and Princesses with the name, so I'm not sure of how much of an impact it had on its popularity - and I doubt it was coined specifically with that association in mind.
Did people come to associate "beauty" with the name? Very likely (the same way Agnes was associated with "angus", lamb). But St Elizabeth was a popular saint, not to mention all of the Queens and Princesses with the name, so I'm not sure of how much of an impact it had on its popularity - and I doubt it was coined specifically with that association in mind.
This message was edited 10/4/2012, 6:39 PM
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