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Baby names

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

Josephine vs Isabelle (or Isabella)

60 replies

zuhura2 · 24/02/2026 20:52

Hi - our baby girl is due next month, and we are having some last minute doubts about our front runner name. I wanted to see what people think about Josephine vs Isabell(e/a) for her name. We are open to all of the nicknames for both (Jo, JoJo, Josie, Joey, Izzy, etc).

Her older sister is named Sophia and her last name will start with a J.

OP posts:
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westcott · 24/02/2026 21:34

Josephine is a truly beautiful name

Gagamama2 · 24/02/2026 21:34

I love Isabella / Bella.

schoolsoutforever · 24/02/2026 21:29

Josephine is lovely and LOVE Josie as nn. Isabella/belle/bel is just way too common, she'd likely be one of 2/3 in every class which I just think is a bit uninteresting (speaking as an Emma of the seventies!).

Paperwhite209 · 24/02/2026 21:28

Definitely not Isabelle unless you want her to be one of dozens and people constantly spell it wrong.

At the last school I worked at I think we had 26 variations/nicknames!

permanently · 24/02/2026 21:24

Josephine is really really lovely

Firebird83 · 24/02/2026 21:21

Josephine, definitely!

LuckyManifestations · 24/02/2026 21:19

I wanted my dd ( now 26) to be called Fifi for short, so nearly chose Josephine. But decided on Seraphina instead.

IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads · 24/02/2026 21:12

Josephine is one of my favourite names. I also love alliterative names. Josephine J is a great name! NN Jojo or Jay.

HoorayHattie · 24/02/2026 21:09

Absolutely LOVE Josephine with Josie as the shortened version. I know a Josie and it's such a lovely name for a baby, child and adult.

I like Isabelle/Isabella too but my first choice would definitely be Josie

Revoltingpheasants · 24/02/2026 20:54

I’m not massively keen on Josephine or Isabelle, to be honest, although I like Josie a lot. I really like Isabella.