Isabel Family History

French, Spanish, Portuguese, and English (of French origin) derive from the Old French female personal name Isabel, which is first recorded in late 11th-century Paris and Maine (France). It was an alternative form of Elizabeth, Old French Elisabet, which had a shortened pet form Isabet.

Isabel appears to have originated as a variant of Isabet, in which the suffix -el was substituted for -et through re-interpretation of -et as a hypocoristic diminutive. The resultant -bel was early associated with Old French bel ‘fair, beautiful’, as is evident in the French variant Isabeau.

From France, the name was taken to England, where it achieved considerable popularity in the late medieval period as an independent personal name alongside its rarer doublet Elizabeth. In the form Isabel, it also appears in Spain and Portugal, while in Italy, it took the form Isabella.

The French surnames Isabel and Isabelle are particularly associated with Normandy.