Hi! According to our 2040 popularity projections, [name_f]Clara[/name_f] and [name_f]Nora[/name_f] are the most likely to stay on the same trajectory as [name_m]Leo[/name_m] – popular and holding steady, but not rising into the Top 10. [name_m]Leo[/name_m] is number 19 now and projected to rise to 15.
I love [name_f]Isabel[/name_f] with that spelling but as beautiful as it, [name_f]Sophie[/name_f], [name_f]Mila[/name_f], and [name_f]Emilia[/name_f] are, I think you are going to find that they are all extremely popular and feel even more popular than these individual versions are given the popularity of similar names such as [name_f]Isabelle[/name_f], [name_f]Isabella[/name_f], [name_f]Sophie[/name_f], [name_f]Sofia[/name_f], [name_f]Mia[/name_f], [name_f]Millie[/name_f], and [name_f]Amelia[/name_f]. If you’re okay with that, great, but I guarantee you are going to meet a lot of other little girls with those names.
I have a daughter named [name_f]Isabelle[/name_f] (5.5 years old), so I thought I would respond to some of your questions above from my experience in case they are still on your mind:
I’m also not a fan of [name_f]Izzy[/name_f], but we’ve almost never come across anyone who tried to shorten her name to [name_f]Izzy[/name_f].
I always wanted to call her “Belle”, but when she was a baby, I didn’t find it rolled off my tongue, so I always called her [name_f]Isabelle[/name_f]. For the first couple of years, all our friends and family happily called her [name_f]Isabelle[/name_f].
However, when she was a toddler, she started calling herself [name_f]Bella[/name_f] (actually [name_f]Bella[/name_f] Boo-ah, but eventually shortened back to Bella), and it stuck. We still use both, and her little best friend actually always calls her [name_f]Isabelle[/name_f], which makes my heart happy, but she’s called [name_f]Bella[/name_f] more often. I wouldn’t have chosen it, but I like that she has her own identity. We did choose her name (and her siblings’ names) partly because they offered lots of room for our kids to get creative with nicknames or even go by their middle names if they choose to someday.
We were originally inspired to choose the name by an author we admire whose name was [name_f]Isobel[/name_f], so we started there, but we ended up going with the [name_f]Isabelle[/name_f] spelling for several reasons – I like [name_m]French[/name_m] names, and I tend to like longer first names, but the biggest reason was that [name_f]Isabelle[/name_f] is the most common spelling here in [name_f]Canada[/name_f] where we live. We were hoping to make it easier for people to spell it correctly, but it still gets spelled [name_f]Isabel[/name_f] quite often. I think all the spellings are lovely, so it doesn’t bother me.
Yes, [name_f]Isabelle[/name_f] and similar names have been popular for a long time, but we haven’t run into too many. I crunched the numbers, and the year my daughter was born, there were 215 girls born in our province named some variant of [name_f]Isabel[/name_f] or [name_f]Isabella[/name_f]. That’s almost as many as [name_f]Olivia[/name_f], the most popular name in our province that year, at 236. Yet our daughter has not had another [name_f]Isabelle[/name_f] or [name_f]Isabella[/name_f] in her class so far, and we have been involved in a lot of activities and met a lot of children. [name_f]She[/name_f] did have another [name_f]Bella[/name_f] in her class for a while, but that student’s full name was Sidrabella, quite different.
I think many parents will echo that a name can be very popular on the charts, but you may rarely or never run into it in your circles. We have three children, [name_f]Isabelle[/name_f], [name_f]Evangeline[/name_f], and [name_m]Benjamin[/name_m]. Two of those names are obviously quite popular, but none of them were “taken” by people close to us, so we felt comfortable using them. (We actually love the name [name_f]Sophia[/name_f] too, but it felt “taken” because we had a couple of adult friends by that name.) Anyway, in our case, we based our choice more on our daily life experience and the people we see every day than on the stats. (And I guess that’s partly because I don’t mind meeting other people who share my kids’ names after the fact; I just don’t want to come across as “copying” someone’s name or their child’s name if we knew them well before we named our child!)
[name_m]Just[/name_m] my perspective as an [name_f]Isabelle[/name_f] mom! [name_f]Hope[/name_f] I explained it in a somewhat helpful and clear way
Thank you. That is enormously interesting and useful! As a baby name professional, I want parents about popularity, but as a mom, I have sons named [name_m]Joe[/name_m] and [name_m]Owen[/name_m] , both quite popular, and they haven’t been in class with others. [name_m]Owen[/name_m] like many kids loves having a popular name and [name_m]Joe[/name_m] has come up with many variations that he likes just as your [name_f]Bella[/name_f] did. Thanks for sharing your on-the-ground experience.
[name_f]Isabel[/name_f] gets my vote ! I think there are plenty other nicknames too !
[name_f]Ella[/name_f] , [name_m]Bell[/name_m] , [name_f]Abi[/name_f] , [name_f]Isla[/name_f] !
All of your suggestions are beautiful, but what stood out to me was that [name_f]Sophia[/name_f] was a life long childhood favourite of yours. I would not dismiss that too easily because of popularity if I were you. I had the exact same feeling with my daughter and I’m really glad I wasn’t swayed and stuck with my gut. [name_m]Not[/name_m] to say you shouldn’t consider the others but I find that it gives you an extra level of reassurance. Also my daughter’s middle name is [name_f]Sophia[/name_f] so I’m a big fan I also do love [name_f]Clara[/name_f] (it’s on my list for a potential further child) and [name_f]Isabel[/name_f] (I love all the spellings). I’m personally fond of [name_f]Arabella[/name_f] nicknamed ‘Bella’ too which I think was another suggestion above. [name_m]You[/name_m] can’t go wrong but I personally would not overrule a much loved name because of popularity (particularly when it is an enduring classic) good luck
I know a little [name_m]Leo[/name_m] and his sister is [name_f]Haven[/name_f] (HAY-ven) super cute!
Of your picks I’m biased towards [name_f]Nora[/name_f] because that’s my grandmother’s name, I think it’s timeless, elegant and beautiful. I think it’s short and complements [name_m]Leo[/name_m] very well. I also love [name_f]Ella[/name_f] as a sister to [name_m]Leo[/name_m], it rolls off the tongue well, they just feel made for each other!
Thanks so much everyone, this has been really helpful! We have had a bit of a change of mind and are now down to [name_f]Nora[/name_f], [name_f]Sophia[/name_f] and [name_f]Isabel[/name_f].
Leaning towards [name_f]Nora[/name_f] at the moment. [name_m]The[/name_m] more I say [name_f]Sophia[/name_f] and [name_f]Isabel[/name_f] with [name_m]Leo[/name_m], the more I wonder if they’re just a little too formal next to him? [name_f]Nora[/name_f] feels a bit more relaxed and sweet, and I love that it’s short and cute like [name_m]Leo[/name_m]. It is also a family name, which is a big plus for us.
I completely understand the comments about [name_m]Leo[/name_m] and [name_f]Nora[/name_f] sounding like Leo-Nora though. I can see where people are coming from- I just don’t think it bothers me enough to rule [name_f]Nora[/name_f] out — I actually quite like that they have a similar simple, slightly vintage feel.
Really appreciate all the opinions — it’s definitely helped narrow things down!
I also do love [name_f]Clara[/name_f] (it’s on my list for a potential further child) and [name_f]Isabel[/name_f] (I love all the spellings). I’m personally fond of [name_f]Arabella[/name_f] nicknamed ‘Bella’ too which I think was another suggestion above. [name_m]You[/name_m] can’t go wrong but I personally would not overrule a much loved name because of popularity (particularly when it is an enduring classic) good luck 