Is it too popular?

[jasminesunflower]

Is Isabella too popular or dull?

What about Isabella "Bella"?

Is Isabelle less popular where you are?

and would you say they are about to be dated?

Is Isabella "Bella" too Twilight?

Isabella and Isabelle etc are popular, not rare are they were 30 years ago.
They are pretty names.
Many lovely names are popular; thus they are the top 20 names because people like them.
Popular names are not dull to me.

I agree with previous posters, they are popular names for a reason, because they are classic and beautiful. I have an Isabel (Spanish), I preferred the simpler spelling than the French (Isabelle - too many extra letters) and the Italian (Isabella -
too many syllables). She is 14 and there are a few others in her year-group. I work in a primary school and we only have 1 Isabelle across the school, so I think it is less popular now than it was 10-15 years ago.

I think people can get obsessed with having a rare name when like others say these names are popular for a reason. Also you could choose an unusual name only for your child to be in a class with that name and not the original common one. There are no guarantees only likelihoods. I'd much rather have a pretty common name than some name that's going to seem dated and naff to my peers. If you're interested in the popularity in your area you can look this up to see which of these is more popular.

Personally, I prefer Isabelle. Isabella is just a bit too much for me but I think I'm influenced by books I read growing up with Isabellas as not great characters.

My favourite version of that name is Isabel. I don't dislike Isabella, but although it has been popular in the UK in the last few years I still vaguely associate it with Italy. I feel like it's quite a glamorous sounding name that would take some living up to. That's probably just me though, and I certainly don't find it ugly or boring.

I think I prefer Izzy to Bella as a short form.

I am not personally a fan of popular names but I think Isabelle etc is more going into classic names. Yes it's popular but it's also a steady one IMO

If you like it go for it.

Much prefer annabel.

Isabelle is just meh. But nothingy.

Perhaps:
Mirabel
Lulabelle
Rosabel
Eliana
Annalise
Athea
Seraphina
Emmeline
Aveline
Adelia
Evangeline
Francesca
Athena
Loretta
Marielle

Totally agree!

Miranda ? Susannah ? Helen ? Zoe? Mary ? Lots of lovely “normal” classic girls names that are underused yet everyone seems to pick variants of Isabel / Eve / Olivia. Why?!?

Frumpy name very 2005 along with Olivia evie mia/may/miah variants plus ubiquitous middle name of rose or Grace. So boring

People will always think she is 15y older than she is too a bit like Helen's born in 1980s or Susan's born in the 1970s

Aurora and Aria seem to be the 2020s variants of Isabell/a with the 'Rory' or 'airy' nick names instead of generic Bella everywhere , so common

I have 12 year old Isabella nn Bella. It’s a great name, she wore it well as a toddler and well as a preteen too. There’s never been another Isabella/Isabelle/Izzy in her class/year at primary school, although there is now a couple in her year at high school (300 kids per year)
Theres another in her gymnastics school, but certainly not massively ubiquitous (Anna, Eva, Ava, Amelia I’m looking at you 😄)

I still love it.

Obviously she is now at an age where she’s seen/read twilight and the Bella reference isn’t really a thing any more!

It is a classic and timeless name that has been used for centuries, so I don't really understand the people saying it will date or is dated.
It has always gone through periods of being extremely popular followed by being hardly used at all.

I far prefer Isabella, but Isabella is often changed to Isabel anyway, just like Louisa to Louise and Joanna to Joanne etc. That 'a' at the end is too much for many to remember!

It doesn't matter if a name is popular or not.

If you like it and it suits your baby then use it.

Thanks so far everyone,

what about Noelle? I was thinking of it as a less popular alternative, possibly Ellie for short occasionally.

I love Izzy as a shortening for Isabella,

It's ok, I like Ellie. Is she due to be a December baby?

I also love Imogen (not that you asked! Sorry)

It’s a beautiful name. Doesn’t remind me of twilight.
But there are 12 Isabella/Isobel/ Isabelle / Izzy’s in our very small village primary school. And more coming up from Pre school.

As I said I thinks it’s a beautiful name, I had it on my ‘list’. But, glad I didn’t choose it because they are all known as Big Izzy, little Izzy, Izzy P, Izzy the twin, Izzy with the swimming pool or something or other to differentiate them.

If you don’t mind that then it’s not an issue.
Although I think the Izzy or Belle / Bella abbreviation might date, I think it is a timeless classic name. And you could insist for as long as possible on the whole name.

Things like Evangeline, Eleanor , Isobel really are timeless. It’s the Evie, Ellie and Izzy that will date. Although i do like all of those abbreviations.

Noelle is beautiful too. There are nearly as many Ellie’s as Izzy’s though. I know sooooo many.

Popular for a reason
I was born in the 1960s when the top names were:
Susan
Julie
Karen
Jacqueline
Deborah
Tracey
Jane
Helen
Diane
Sharon

How many of those names would you consider beautiful? Did the names stop being beautiful?