Isabell
A feminine name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is my oath".
Name Census estimates that about 7,379 living Americans carry the first name Isabell. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Isabell today is around 28 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Isabell births was 2006 (388 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Isabell. 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 Isabell with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
7.4K
~ 1 in 46,450 Americans
Peak year
2006
388 babies that year
Average age
28
years old
1929 SSA rank
#2,310
Tracked since 1880
Census
Isabell in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 8,281 people with the first name Isabell, which placed it at #2,799 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
#2,799
National first-name rank
People counted
8.3K
8,281 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
48.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Isabell
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Isabell is White at 48.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (36.7%) and Black (7.5%). 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 Isabell 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 Isabell at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White48.3% · 3,998
- Hispanic or Latino36.7% · 3,039
- Black or African American7.5% · 617
- Two or more races3.7% · 304
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.6% · 215
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 108
Gender
Gender distribution for Isabell
Out of the 15,189 babies given the name Isabell since 1880, 100.0% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Isabell as a male name
- Ranked #4,258 in 1929
- 5 male births in 1929
- Peak: 1929 (5 births)
Isabell as a female name
- Ranked #2,310 in 2024
- 80 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2006 (388 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Isabell appears almost entirely female. Of the 8,283 people counted with this name, 99.6% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Isabell: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Isabell from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 2,884 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Isabell 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 Isabell during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Isabells live
The SSA's state-level files cover 42 states and territories. California, Texas, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Isabell, while Wyoming, New Hampshire, North Dakota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 211 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Isabell
The name Isabell has its origins in the Hebrew language, deriving from the biblical name "Elisheva," which means "God is my oath." It emerged during the Middle Ages in various European countries and underwent different spellings, including Isabel, Isabelle, and Isobel.
The earliest recorded instances of the name can be traced back to the 12th century, when it gained popularity among European nobility. One notable figure was Isabella of Angoulême (1186-1246), the Queen consort of England as the wife of King John.
In the 13th century, Isabella of France (1292-1358), also known as the She-Wolf of France, was a prominent figure in European history. She played a crucial role in the deposition of her husband, King Edward II of England, and the subsequent accession of their son, Edward III, to the throne.
During the Renaissance period, Isabella d'Este (1474-1539), a prominent Renaissance woman and patron of the arts, was renowned for her cultivation of a brilliant court in Mantua, Italy.
In the 16th century, Isabella of Portugal (1503-1539) was a notable figure as the Queen consort of Spain, married to the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.
Another famous bearer of the name was Isabella I of Castile (1451-1504), known as Isabella the Catholic, who played a pivotal role in the Spanish Reconquista and the unification of Spain. She also financed the voyages of Christopher Columbus, leading to the discovery of the Americas.
Over the centuries, the name Isabell has maintained its popularity and has been borne by numerous notable individuals across various fields, including literature, arts, and politics, solidifying its place in the annals of history.
People
Isabell + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Isabell 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
Isabell: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Isabell?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 7,379 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Isabell 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 46,450 US residents.
Is Isabell a common name?
We classify Isabell as "Rare". It ranks above 97.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 15,189 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Isabell most popular?
The single biggest year for Isabell was 2006, when 388 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Isabell is about 28 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Isabell in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 8,281 people with the name Isabell, or 2.74 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,799 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 Isabell 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 Isabell?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Isabell appears almost entirely female. Of the 8,283 people counted with this name, 99.6% 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 Isabell?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Isabell is White at 48.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (36.7%) and Black (7.5%). 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 Isabell most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Isabell in the 2020 Census, accounting for 48.3% (3,998 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 Isabell in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Isabell a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Isabell 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 Isabell still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Isabell 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 Isabell 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 Americans are named Isabell?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.