Isobel or Isabel, Joy or Grace?

[CesareBorgiasUnicornMask]

Just musing. Baby not due until next summer and may not be a girl - if it's a boy DH and I both like Luke William but girls names are contentious. The only one we can seem to agree on is Isobel/ Isabel but not the spelling.

For a middle name I like Joy as it's more unusual, and also the name of a teacher who I loved to bits and inspired me hugely. DH prefers Grace as it's more 'normal' but I quite like it too.

So:

Isobel Joy

Isabel Grace

Or neither?

Isobel grace. The only joy I have ever known was a total sour puss....irony!

But, Remus, you can't be serious.

You're just a bit loony. ;)

Isobel Joy

I have an Isabelle. It's my favourite although they are all nice

Isabel Joy. May she bring you as much joy as our dd, isabel rose!

I prefer Isobel (my daufgters middle name) but I'd probably compromise on spelling it Isabel as it's only a small difference and still pretty if it meant I could have the middle name I wanted. I wouldn't with Isabelle though. I prefer Grace as a name but it sounds dull in mn spot so would go with Joy which also has more meaning for you

Isabel Grace. I really dislike the other spelling, sorry. It might be the 'sob' bit

I'd mix the two and go for Isabel Joy. I prefer Isabel to Isobel.

I'd pick Joy as the middle name, anyway. To me it's much nicer than Grace.

Isobel Joy

Isobel Joy.
I only know 1 Isobel who is 17, but know at least 9 Isabel/le/la (aged 0-16) 5 of which have Grace as a middle name.

Wow I haven't looked since I posted! Update is, having talked to dh it turns out he doesn't just prefer the Isabel spelling, he actively dislikes Isobel, like a Pp because of the 'sob' part. So I'm prepared to acquiesce gracefully to Isabel (Joy).

Baby's obviously going to be a boy now...

Isabel Joy is lovely. (I personally do agree with DH's opinion on Isobel, but that's just personal taste)

And there are so many gorgeous boy's names!

Have never once thought of the 'sob' thing. Isabel makes me feel I need to overpronounce the 'a' - IsAbel - while Isobel flows better for me. I also like the Scottish aspect of Isobel.

Anyway, you've decided now. You'll find it a lot easier to buy personalised things with the A spelling that's for sure (Isabelle even more so)!

Have been writing 'my' Isobel's name for nearly twenty nears now, and the 'sob' thing has never entered my head.

I have an Isobel and it rarely gets misspelled. And I still love the name even though it usually gets slagged off on MN

In my opinion it should be spelled Isobel (British version) or Isabelle (French version) and not mixed up like Isabel or Isobelle.

The sob thing never occurred to me either. How odd

Isn't Isabel simply the Portuguese and Spanish version of the name?

I have a 5 year old Isobel, and I've never ever registered the 'sob' part and now I'll never be able to unsee it

Yes, my understanding is that it goes:

Isobel - Scottish
Isabel - Spanish
Isabelle - French
Isabella - Italian

Linked to the name Elizabeth?

Tom

Absolutely.

Or that's at least what I thought as well...

Yep, Isobelle is non existent name but Isabel is legit. Wasn't there a Queen Isabel of Spain hundreds of years ago?

Isobel Joy

Isobel is by far the nicest spelling and if said correctly then a softer sounding name than Isabel.

Tom absolutely! :)

Isabella of Castile
And Isabel II of Spain (and please correct me if I'm wrong!)

Isobelle would be awful (apologies to any Isobelle reading this....)