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Origin and history of Isabel

Isabel

fem. proper name, a form of Elizabeth that seems to have developed in Provence. A popular English name in the Middle Ages; pet forms included Ibb, Libbe, Nibb, Tibb, Bibby, and Ellice. The Spanish form was Isabella, which is attested as a color name ("greyish-yellow") in English from c. 1600; the Isabella who gave her name to it has not been identified, and the usual stories are too late for the date. Related: Isabelline (adj.).

Entries linking to Isabel

Elizabeth

fem. proper name, Biblical name of the wife of Aaron, from Late Latin Elisabeth, from Greek Eleisabeth, Eleisabet, from Hebrew Elishebha "God is an oath," the second element said by Klein to be related to shivah (fem. sheva) "seven," and to nishba "he swore," originally "he bound himself by (the sacred number) seven." Has never ranked lower than 26th in popularity among the names given to baby girls in the U.S. in any year since 1880, the oldest for which a reliable list is available. The city in New Jersey is named for Lady Elizabeth Carteret (d.1697), wife of one of the first proprietors of the colony.

Bella

fem. proper name, from Italian bella "fair," from Latin bella, fem. of bellus "beautiful, fair" (see belle). In some cases short for Isabella (see Isabel).

Tib

1530s, in 16c.-17c. a typical name for an English lass of the lower class, hence "girl, sweetheart," sometimes also "strumpet;" from the pet form of Isabel. She often was paired alliteratively with Tom, as Jill was with Jack. Also as a name for a female cat (tib-cat, 1828), perhaps by extension of the Tom pairing, but compare Tibert.

Colloquial St. Tibb's Eve (1785) was the evening of the last day, the Day of Judgment, hence "never."

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