Isobel or Isabel

[charlottery]

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!

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

Isobel is nicest, I think. Pretty name.

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

Isobel.
For sure.

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.

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 :)

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!

Isabel seems far classier to me, somehow. Cannot explain why, for the life of me.

Isobel seems like the more classic and 'correct' spelling to me, would agree with going for Isabelle/Isabella if you like the 'a' spelling. There are no rules about these things though, so if you like Isabel then you can have it!

Another vote for Isobel.

I do know one who spelt it Ysobel

Isobel

I don't think it's a question of correctness - if Isabel was good enough for Henry James in the 1870s I reckon it's good enough now :) Like I said, I still prefer (and will soon be using the 'o' spelling) but I really think there's no right or wrong. Congratulations on your baby by the way, and on all the other Isobel/Isabel/Isabelle's etc on here!

I prefer the Isobel spelling (partly because my family is Scottish) but ended up with Isabel for DD because I thought that's how people would be more likely to spell it. The congrats cards we got when she was born were exactly evenly split between those addressed to Isobel and those to Isabel.......

Isabel seems more traditional. Isobel has a more modern feel.

I stumbled across this thread as the DW and I hotly dispute the correct spelling. I think it's Isabel. She thinks it's Isabelle.

I've been researching the matter and have come to the following conclusions:

1. Isabel appears to be the common traditional spelling: for example, it turns up in the First Folio of Shakespeare plays, published 1623.
2. Isobel may have become the normal Scottish spelling, but that's a recent development. For example, one of Robert the Bruce's daughters was christened "Isabel", whereas an English noblewoman circa 1200 was "Isobel". So I don't think it's that simple. It seems to have been uncommmon in mediaeval / early modern England.
3. Isabella is also pretty common in English, but seems to be slightly more associated with the French.
4. Isabelle is French, occuring from the fifteenth century onwards (but as I don't speak French, I can't research the Internet resources).
5. Isabel (+variants) are synonyms of Elizabeth (although this is disputed in some quarters). Interestingly, Elizabeth seems to have become more common in English from the 1600s onwards, while Isabel (+variants) became less common.

Sorry, under 2. for "in mediaeval / early modern England" read Britain.

Isabel

but that's because I like Isa (ee-za) as a NN

Toad - there is no one correct spelling; there's a variety of spellings.

I say this as one of them.

I meant "correct" in the sense of the spelling with the most and longest use. Even "Eezibyl" isn't wrong in the sense that 1+1=3, but I should hardly need to point that out.

I liked Isobel and suggested it for bump but when OH read it he pronounced it eye-so-bel (as in isofix)!

I like Isabelle best. Isabel looks a bit 'unfinished' and Isobel makes me think of isobars.

I thought that Isabelle was the French-style spelling and Isobel was the British-style spelling

IMHO Isabel looks like a cross of the two and not right

But I think it is a GORGEOUS name either way!

My understanding is that:

Isabel = English
Isobel = Scottish
Isabelle = French

Each equally valid, which makes it hard to choose.

We have an Isabel :)

I think this is one of the few name threads I've seen where everyone agrees it's lovely no matter how it's spelled :)

Unless anyone has an Izza'Belle CurrySpice :o