While reading something about Sanibel Island, I stopped and pondered the potential of Sanibel as a girl’s name.
What struck me was the trendy -bel ending, as it is actually a contraction of [name_f]Santa[/name_f] Isybella, the island having been named after [name_f]Queen[/name_f] [name_f]Isabella[/name_f] of Spain. As far as place names go, it does evoke pleasant enough tropical imagery. And [name_f]Sana[/name_f] would be a cute nickname.
Does this one have potential or am I off my rocker?
I think it would work but maybe Santibel is better? Without the “t” the connection isn’t as obvious and it makes me think of sane or insane.
For some reason, I keep thinking of this as the last name of the protagonist in a modern fairy tale! I don’t know what it is, but that’s what I keep thinking of. This is an interesting idea, but I think it’s more of a guilty pleasure. However, it could have some middle name potential if paired with a classic first. [name_f]Anneliese[/name_f] Sanibel (last name) sounds really nice to me. Interesting!
It’s got a very name-like sound, I agree, but to me anything starting “Sani-“ sounds like a feminine hygiene product.
[name_f]Sana[/name_f], on the other hand, is very pretty.
@katinka beat me to it. I love the story behind it, but the actual name - for me - envokes a feminine hygiene product, or perhaps some sort of household cleaner.
I like Sanibel. The spelling of Sanabel might be a little bit more palatable.
It’s pretty. I do however associate it with Sanibel Island in [name_f]Florida[/name_f] as I am with [name_f]Florida[/name_f]. Others may not know about it and also it may not matter. 
Ha I hadn’t even considered the sani- connotation!
It’s kind of like [name_f]Lavender[/name_f]. One of my favorite names but you know, “lav”. 
Yes, Lav isn’t great! ([name_f]Lavender[/name_f] is gorgeous, though…)
It’s pretty much mn only for me this point, where there’s really no reason why it would ever get shortened.
But that’s just what I need…a longer mn list! sarcasm
I love the fact that it has history, but for me it has inescapable connotations to hand sanitiser, unfortunately.