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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

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Original poster

Isobel or Isabel

57 replies

charlottery · 08/04/2011 11:11

Which do you think is the better spelling? Also any other ideas for similar names - this is the only one DH and I both like at the moment! We have a daughter called Alice
Thank you!

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takethatlady · 12/04/2011 10:35

We're having an Isobel Edith in June :)

Have always loved the 'o' spelling though I did recently read Henry James's The Portrait of a Lady and the heroine is called Isabel Archer and the 'a' started to grow on me. I mentioned it to DH but he doesn't like it, and even after 600 pages of it I still love the 'o'. Feels less prettified to me than with the 'a' - less princessy and more substantial. Don't know why!

Trinaluce · 08/04/2011 21:58

I have an Isobel so I'm biased

I always swore I'd pick a name I didn't have to spell out as I have spent my entire life saying 'NO, P not C. NO, E not A....' 4 hours after she was born I knew she was an Isobel and nothing DH could say would convince me otherwise (it was almost as if she sat up in the crib and told me herself).

I have spent a lot of time saying 'O not A' - 'there's no LE at the end...' - but I figure there are few names you WON'T have to correct these days! Helen, Helene or Hellen? Ann or Anne? Jane or Jayne? Even the simple ones are awkward :)

TigOEUFeet · 08/04/2011 21:55

We have an Isabel

I chose the name, dh chose which spelling we went with

I like it spelled that way, can't really put my finger on why

She is Issy now, so bear that in mind if you use it, I wasn't keen on abbreviatingn it but it has stuck and Issy she is.

randomimposter · 08/04/2011 21:51

Isobel.
For sure.

CharlieCoCo · 08/04/2011 21:26

isobel or isabelle/a. isabel looks like a typo.

Tolalola · 08/04/2011 16:22

Isobel is nicest, I think. Pretty name.

saffy85 · 08/04/2011 16:20

Isobel. This name is on my list. Beautiful name and goes well with Alice.

putthehamsterbackinitscage · 08/04/2011 14:33

Isabel for me - that's what my DD is...

Its the spanish spelling, and I wanted to make it quicker and easier for her to learn to spell and write her name when small too...

Isobel is Scottish version...

Be warned that whichever you choose people will always get it wrong! My Issie gets all sorts of spellings from different places and gets quite annoyed with it (she's 10 - she'll get used to that eventually :) as well as all the ways you can say Izzy, Issy, Issie, Izzie, Izzi, Izi .... need I go on....

TBH tho day to day she is Issie and only gets full Isabel from me when she's done something wrong...

pirateparty · 08/04/2011 14:30

Def Isobel. Love it. On our girls name list along with Alice!

BobbiDazzler · 08/04/2011 14:26

Isobel.

The others look wrong to me. Isabelle is particularly frill-tastic.

booandbump · 08/04/2011 14:23

Ava is lovely

I prefer the spelling Isobel.

chocadoodle · 08/04/2011 14:23

I like the spelling Isobel

stylenotfashion · 08/04/2011 13:52

I know someone who had daughters called Alice and Isabelle.

How about Harriet instead? Or Ava? Alice and Ava sounds super cute :)

LisMcA · 08/04/2011 13:47

I think it depends on how you pronounce it where you are from. Different dialects put the emphasis on the O or the A.

Where I grew up it would be O but where I live now its A.

I would go with O personally, but there are so many variations you will end up having to spell it all the time anyway.

I love it by the way was our choice for a DD but we are having a DS!

kahlua4me · 08/04/2011 13:37

I am Isabel and I love it! Frequently have to spell it out for people as so many variations. Prefer mine to the rest, though!!
Shortened to Issy by most people.

ValiumSoltera · 08/04/2011 13:34

Isobel for me. Even though I love Spanish names I just think Isobel with an o is more .................... Scottish and less girly wirly.

Lonnie · 08/04/2011 13:19

Much prefeer it with an O if you are not going down the bella route So Isobel also sounds so much nicer to sound with that nice round o vovel in it

DesertOrchid · 08/04/2011 13:13

I LOVE Isobel with an O.

oohlaalaa · 08/04/2011 13:13

Isabel is the elizabethan spelling:

www.guildofstmichael.org/names.html

I think Isobel is the more common spelling, but prefer Isabel.

Both lovely though.

hatwoman · 08/04/2011 13:03

I agree with Speculation - I had always thought (possibly incorrectly I admit) that it was either Isobel or Isabelle. and of those I prefer Isobel.

growing3rdbump · 08/04/2011 13:01

Isobel is my favourite spelling.

lemonbeaver · 08/04/2011 12:25

I love the name, btw my daughter is Isabelle known to all as Issy

brightcopperkettles · 08/04/2011 12:17

I also prefer Isobel, it is DD's mn :).

WishIWasRimaHorton · 08/04/2011 12:07

I contemplated the welsh spelling Ysobel for DD as we live in wales. decided against it as she would have spent her life trying to tell people where the Y went! But I am another one who prefers Isobel. Not Isabel.

speculationisrife · 08/04/2011 12:07

I like Isobel - it's an nice old English spelling, and very pretty, I think. Otherwise I prefer Isabelle, the French way. To me Isabel is neither one thing nor the other.

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