Isabela
A feminine name of Spanish origin meaning "pledged to God".
Name Census estimates that about 12,122 living Americans carry the first name Isabela. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Isabela today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Isabela births was 2004 (695 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Isabela. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Isabela with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Isabela is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 16 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
12K
~ 1 in 28,275 Americans
Peak year
2004
695 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#644
Tracked since 1982
Census
Isabela in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 13,180 people with the first name Isabela, which placed it at #2,062 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#2,062
National first-name rank
People counted
13K
13,180 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
4.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
72.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Isabela
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Isabela is Hispanic at 72.9%. The next largest groups are White (21.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Isabela described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Isabela at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino72.9% · 9,605
- White21.4% · 2,821
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.3% · 305
- Two or more races1.9% · 256
- Black or African American1.2% · 162
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 31
Popularity
Isabela: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Isabela from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 5,336 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Isabela remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Isabela by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Isabela during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Isabelas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 39 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Isabela, while Mississippi, Idaho, Arkansas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 278 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Isabela
The given name Isabela has its origins in the medieval Occitan and Spanish language forms of Elizabeth, which derived from the Hebrew name Elisheva. The name Elisheva is formed from the components "El" meaning "God" and "shava" meaning "oath" or "fulness". Thus, the name Isabela conveys the meaning "God is my oath" or "Consecrated to God".
The name Isabela became widespread across Europe during the Middle Ages, particularly in Spain and Portugal. One of the earliest known bearers of this name was Isabella I of Castile, also known as Isabella the Catholic, who lived from 1451 to 1504. As Queen of Castile and Aragon, she played a pivotal role in the Spanish Unification and the expulsion of the Moors from the Iberian Peninsula.
In the 13th century, Saint Isabel of France, also known as the Blessed Isabelle of France, was a French princess who embraced a life of poverty and humility as a member of the Order of Franciscan Tertiaries. Her birth and death years were approximately 1225 to 1270.
The name Isabela also appears in the Italian Renaissance period with Isabella d'Este, the Marchioness of Mantua, who lived from 1474 to 1539. She was a prominent figure in the Italian Renaissance, known for her patronage of the arts and her political influence.
Another notable figure was Queen Isabella of Portugal, who lived from 1503 to 1539. As a Princess of Spain and Queen of Portugal, she played a crucial role in the development of the Portuguese Empire and the exploration of the New World.
In the 16th century, Isabella Andreini, an Italian actress and poet, lived from 1562 to 1604. She was renowned for her performances in commedia dell'arte plays and her contributions to Renaissance literature.
The name Isabela has maintained its popularity throughout history and has been borne by numerous notable figures across various cultures and time periods, reflecting its enduring appeal and historical significance.
People
Isabela + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Isabela as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with I
Other first names starting with I with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Isabela: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Isabela?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 12,122 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Isabela going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 28,275 US residents.
Is Isabela a common name?
We classify Isabela as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 12,269 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Isabela most popular?
The single biggest year for Isabela was 2004, when 695 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Isabela is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Isabela in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 13,180 people with the name Isabela, or 4.36 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,062 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Isabela in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Isabela?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Isabela appears almost entirely female. Of the 13,178 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Isabela?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Isabela is Hispanic at 72.9%. The next largest groups are White (21.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Isabela most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Isabela in the 2020 Census, accounting for 72.9% (9,605 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Isabela in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Isabela a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Isabela in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Isabela still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Isabela in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Isabela can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have Isabela as a first name?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Isabela, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.