I’ve been running across this girls’ name lately, and I think it sounds adorable. Very vintage. I’m wondering if anyone knows anything about the name, like the origin, meaning, history, etc? I can’t seem to find much about it.
I’d really love to know. I could see myself using Idabel, especially in the middle name spot. [name_f]Lucy[/name_f] Idabel, maybe? Hmmm.
Grateful to anyone who responds! I really want to know more about the name.
I don’t know anything about the name but [name_f]Lucy[/name_f] Idabel is very sweet 
I think it’s a bit of a smush of [name_f]Ida[/name_f] and [name_f]Belle[/name_f] or [name_f]Ida[/name_f] and [name_f]Isabel[/name_f], honestly.
That’s not a bad thing. I like some smushes very much -
[name_f]Maybelle[/name_f] - so vintage
[name_f]Rosemary[/name_f] - classic
Lilybeth - sort of not a smush, but a variation of [name_f]Lilibeth[/name_f] which was a nickname for [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f] - and it certainly sounds like a combo name.
Earthabelle - yes, I saw this in real life! [name_f]Eartha[/name_f]'s very vintage and [name_f]Belle[/name_f] is so sweet.
[name_f]Annabeth[/name_f] - true smush of [name_f]Anna[/name_f] and [name_f]Beth[/name_f].
[name_f]Ida[/name_f] has a wonderful vintage quality, I’m quite fond of it. Only downside is that it sounds like “I’d, uh…” and makes for weird puns. Idabel circumvents that.
I think it would often be confused for/assumed to be [name_f]Isabel[/name_f] if a FN, but as a MN it’s not problematic.
Here’s everything I know :):
I feel like it’s just some kind of smoosh name of [name_f]Ida[/name_f] and [name_f]Bel/name_f. It does sound very nice, but in looks it just strikes me as a misspelled [name_f]Isabel[/name_f], sorry.
First thought: what is this? Misspelled [name_f]Isabel[/name_f]?
Second thought: I love [name_f]Belle[/name_f] names, but I dislike Idabel, sorry. It’s like people just randomly add -bel(le) in order to create a new name.
I assumed it was a typo, especially since d and s are next to each other on the qwerty keyboard. I don’t think my reaction would be that unusual.
I have heard of the name Idabel before, unfortunately I don’t have any info about the name.
I think that Idabel is pretty, especially for the combo [name_f]Lucy[/name_f] Idabel.
It’s a bit fussy for me when said out loud, but it looks nice written down. Really unhelpful I know. I think I’m trying to say it would be a better middle name, where it’s said out loud less.
Idabel is just a mash-up of [name_f]Ida[/name_f] and those -bel names. It sounds too frilly to me but it does work better as a middle name. [name_f]Lucy[/name_f] Idabel is nice.
Thanks everyone for the responses.
Check out this piece of an article I just found about the town (Idabel, OK)'s name: “The town’s name of Purnell was derived from the family name of [name_m]Isaac[/name_m] Purnell, a railroad official. When postal officials rejected that designation, the name was changed to [name_m]Mitchell[/name_m], honoring another railroad company officer. That name was also rejected because another town of that name existed elsewhere in the territory. Railroad officials then chose the name Idabel, a compound of the names of [name_m]Isaac[/name_m] Purnell’s two daughters, [name_f]Ida[/name_f] and [name_u]Bell[/name_u] (sometimes given as [name_f]Belle[/name_f]). The Post Office Department followed suit by changing the name from Bokhoma to Idabel, effective February 3, 1904.”
So, though a compound made-up name, it still has over a 100 year history. That beats out Kinsleigh, etc. in my book! 
But, I’d still like some opinions. [name_m]How[/name_m] “made-up” does it sound? And is “made-up” automatically bad? Like a pp said, [name_f]Annabeth[/name_f] is “made-up,” too. But I also don’t want a daughter growing up with a name she hates because it doesn’t sound legitimate. Ohhh the dilemma…
I thinks it’s adorable!