The story in the numbers

130,387 girls have been named Isabel in the United States since 1880, according to Social Security records. The busiest single year was 2006, with 4,009 births — 0.21% of all girls recorded that year.

It is holding steady: its share of births has moved by less than half in either direction over ten years (rank 144 → 167).

Half of everyone given the name was born by 2000, and the 2000s alone account for 28%. It has spent 145 of 145 years in the top 1,000, 10 of them in the top 100.

It is overwhelmingly a girl’s name: 1,827 boys have also been given it, 1.4% of the total.

Rank among girls, year by year

By decade

Decade

girls named Isabel

1,053

2,047

2,926

7,668

8,315

4,442

3,435

4,041

3,716

3,941

4,962

16,104

36,038

22,584

9,115

In 2006, its biggest year

Isabel was the 87th most given girl’s name that year. The top five girls’ names of 2006 were Emily, Emma, Madison, Isabella and Ava. See all of 2006.

Names that rose and fell with Isabel

Same sex, most similar popularity curve over 145 years, in five-year steps — the shape of the line, not the size.

Other spellings in the data

What this page does not tell you. The Social Security data records how many babies were given a name, not what the name means or where it comes from — so neither do we. Counts cover people with a Social Security number; names given to fewer than five babies in a year are withheld. More on the data.