Isabel sits comfortably in the UK charts at #169 in 2024 — recognisable but not overwhelming. Your child may occasionally share their name.
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UK Rank 2024
#169
US Rank #167
About the Name Isabel
Isabel is gradually declining in popularity, having dropped 33 places over five years. Its high point was #45 in 2006, and it now sits at #169. The name has been a consistent presence in UK records since 1996. It has featured in the UK top 100 for 17 years, demonstrating solid mainstream recognition.
Isabel is distinctive enough that your child will likely be the only one in both their class and their school — standing out on every register.
It ranks similarly in the US at #167, suggesting broad transatlantic appeal.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about the name Isabel
Unlikely. With around 294 UK babies named Isabel per year, your child will almost certainly be the only Isabel in her class, and possibly the only one in the whole school.
Isabel has been declining in UK popularity, dropping 33 places in the last five years. Its peak was #45 in 2006. Choosing it now means she is likely to be among the last of her generation with this name.
Isabel is more popular in the US (#167) than in the UK (#169). Names with strong rankings in both countries tend to have broad cross-cultural appeal, working well for international families or those with ties to both nations.
Notable people named Isabel include: Isabel Oakeshott — Isabel Oakeshott is a British political journalist.; Isabel dos Santos — Isabel Kukanova dos Santos is an Angolan businesswoman, the eldest child of Angola's former President José Eduardo dos Santos, who ruled the country from 1979...; Isabel Wilkerson — Isabel Wilkerson is an American journalist and the author of The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration and Caste: The Origins of....
Isabel appears in the US top 500 at #167 in 2024 — moderately popular in America, though less so than in the UK.
294
UK babies named Isabel (2024)
~0.0
Expected classmates with this name (class of 28)
~0.1
In a school of 600
↓ 33 places
Rank change (last 5 years)
🏫 Who else is in the room?
In a typical UK class of 28, highlighted children share the name Isabel
Likely around 1 other Isabel in the class
UK Popularity (1996–2024)
Rank and birth count · ONS official data
US Popularity (2020–2024)
Rank · SSA official data
✨ Similar names to Isabel
Names with a similar style — each with their own classroom story
Isabel Oakeshott is a British political journalist. Oakeshott was the political editor of The Sunday Times and is the co-author, with Michael Ashcroft, of an unauthorised biography of former British prime minister David Cameron, Call Me Dave, and of various other non-fiction titles, including White Flag?
Isabel Kukanova dos Santos is an Angolan businesswoman, the eldest child of Angola's former President José Eduardo dos Santos, who ruled the country from 1979 to 2017. As early as 2013 Forbes described how dos Santos acquired her wealth by taking stakes in companies doing business in Angola, suggesting that her wealth came almost entirely from her family's power and connections.
Isabel Wilkerson is an American journalist and the author of The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration and Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents. She is the first woman of African-American heritage to win the Pulitzer Prize in journalism.
Isabel Burton, later known as Lady Burton, was an English writer, explorer and adventurer. She was the wife and partner of the explorer, adventurer, and writer Sir Richard Francis Burton.
Isabel Sylvia Margaret Maxwell is a French-born entrepreneur and the co-founder of Magellan, an early search engine that was acquired by Excite. Maxwell has been listed as a Technology Pioneer of the World Economic Forum.
Isabel Martínez de Perón (Spanish pronunciation: [isaˈβel maɾˈtines ðe peˈɾon] , born María Estela Martínez Cartas; 4 February 1931) is an Argentine politician who served as the president of Argentina from 1974 to 1976. She was one of the first female republican heads of state in the world, and the first woman to serve as president of a country.