The Romance-language given names Isabel (Portuguese, Spanish, Catalan, Provençal), Isabella (Italian), Isabelle (French) are etymologically related to the English Elizabeth, but are rarely translated as such. In English translations, they are instead substituted one for the other, seemingly arbitrarily. Isabella I of Castile, for example, is often rendered into English as Latin Isabella, rarely as French Isabelle, but (nowadays) never as Elizabeth.

Etymology

This set of names is a southwestern European variant of the Hebrew name Elisheva. It first appeared in medieval Provençal as Isabel. 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.^[1]

According to Hanks/Hodges (166), the name is simply the Spanish form of Elizabeth, with loss of the first syllable and /l/ instead of /t/ (the latter sound does not appear word-finally in Spanish). 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. For instance, in French Canada, Queen Elizabeth II is officially called Élisabeth II.

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).

Variants in other languages include the Scottish Isobel and the Polish Izabela.

Despite a seeming similarity, the name is etymologically unconnected to "Jezebel", a queen of whom the Bible had a very negative opinion and whose name any culture accepting the Bible's moral judegements would not be likely to take uo as a given name.

Royalty

Queens

Other royalty

• Isabella d'Anjou (c. 1101/1107–1154), Abbess of Fontevrault, wife of William Adelin.
• Isabella of England (1214 ? December 1, 1241) daughter of King John of England and Isabella of Angouleme, wife of Frederick II Hohenstaufen 'Stupor Mundi', Holy Roman Emperor.
• Isabella of Antioch (13th century), regent of Jerusalem.
• Isabella of Mar (c. 1277–1296), first wife of Robert I of Scotland.
• Princess Isabella of Armenia (died c. 1321).
• Princess Isabella of Portugal (1397–1471), wife and political advisor of Philip III, Duke of Burgundy.
• Isabella, Duchess of Lorraine (1400–1453).
• Isabella of Bourbon (1436–1465), wife of Charles, Duke of Burgundy.
• Marchioness Isabella d'Este (1474–1539), wife of Francesco II of Gonzaga.
• Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia of Spain (1566–1633), wife of Archduke Albert of Austria.
• Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil (1846–1921) — Princess Imperial of Brazil, daughter of Pedro II of Brazil, abolished slavery in Brazil.
• Isabelle, Comtesse de Paris (1911–2003).
• Princess Isabella of Denmark (born 2007)

Saints

• Saint Isabel of France (1225–1270)
• Elizabeth of Portugal

Other famous people

• Isabel Allende, Chilean, author and niece of Salvador Allende.
• Isabella Clark, wife of Prime Minister of Canada Sir John A. Macdonald.
• Isabel Godin des Odonais, traveler in the Amazon Basin.
• Isabel Martínez de Perón, President of Argentina (1974–1976) and third wife of Juan Perón.

Ships

• Isabella, a ship sunk in the Falkland Islands in 1813.

Bibliography

• Hanks, Patrick und Flavia Hodges. 1996. Oxford Dictionary of First Names. Oxford University Press.

See also

• Isabel (disambiguation)
• 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

References

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