Issabella
A feminine name of Spanish origin meaning "consecrated to God".
Name Census estimates that about 1,749 living Americans carry the first name Issabella. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Issabella today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Issabella births was 2010 (137 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Issabella. 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 Issabella with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Issabella is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 14 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.7K
~ 1 in 195,972 Americans
Peak year
2010
137 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,589
Tracked since 1994
Census
Issabella in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,888 people with the first name Issabella, which placed it at #7,864 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
#7,864
National first-name rank
People counted
1.9K
1,888 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
48.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Issabella
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Issabella is White at 48.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (35.5%) and Two or More Races (6.3%). 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 Issabella 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 Issabella at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White48.8% · 922
- Hispanic or Latino35.5% · 671
- Two or more races6.3% · 119
- Black or African American5.7% · 107
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.3% · 44
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 25
Popularity
Issabella: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Issabella from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 899 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Issabella 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 Issabella during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Issabellas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 18 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Issabella, while Virginia, Minnesota, Indiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 39 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Issabella
The name Issabella is a variant spelling of the Spanish name Isabella, which was derived from the Hebrew name Elisheba, meaning "God is my oath." The name first emerged during the Middle Ages in various European countries, including Spain, France, and Italy.
Issabella is believed to have originated from the Latin form "Elisabet," which was a popular name among European nobility during the Medieval period. The name gained particular prominence in Spain due to the influence of Queen Isabella I of Castile, also known as Isabella the Catholic, who reigned from 1474 to 1504.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Issabella dates back to the 13th century, when it appeared in historical documents from the Kingdom of Aragon in Spain. During this time, the name was sometimes spelled as "Yssabella" or "Ysabella."
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Issabella or its variations. One such individual was Isabella of France (1292-1358), also known as the "She-Wolf of France," who was the Queen of England as the wife of King Edward II. Another prominent figure was Isabella of Portugal (1397-1471), a Portuguese infanta who became the Duchess of Burgundy through her marriage to Philip the Good.
In the 16th century, Isabella of Castile (1451-1504), also known as Isabella the Catholic, was an influential figure in Spanish history. She played a crucial role in the Spanish Inquisition and the unification of Spain through her marriage to King Ferdinand II of Aragon.
Another notable bearer of the name was Isabella Andreini (1562-1604), an Italian Renaissance woman who was a prominent actress, writer, and member of the Commedia dell'Arte troupe.
In the 19th century, Isabella Bird (1831-1904) was a renowned English explorer, writer, and naturalist known for her extensive travels and writings about her adventures in various parts of the world.
People
Issabella + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Issabella 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
Issabella: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Issabella?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,749 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Issabella 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 195,972 US residents.
Is Issabella a common name?
We classify Issabella as "Rare". It ranks above 93.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,767 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Issabella most popular?
The single biggest year for Issabella was 2010, when 137 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Issabella is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Issabella in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,888 people with the name Issabella, or 0.63 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,864 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 Issabella 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 Issabella?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Issabella appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,882 people counted with this name, 99.9% 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 Issabella?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Issabella is White at 48.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (35.5%) and Two or More Races (6.3%). 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 Issabella most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Issabella in the 2020 Census, accounting for 48.8% (922 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 Issabella in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Issabella a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Issabella 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 Issabella still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Issabella 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 Issabella 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 share the name Issabella?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.