Popularity of the name Isabella, 1880–2025
Isabella was at its most popular in 2010, when 22,936 girls were given the name: about 1 in 78 girls born in the U.S. that year, ranking #1. In 2025, 10,666 girls were named Isabella, ranking #7. In all, Social Security counts 417,001 girls named Isabella since 1880. Social Security’s records also list 453 boys named Isabella.
- Peak year
- 2010
- Rank in 2010
- #1
- Babies in 2010
- 22,936
- Rank in 2025
- #7
- Total since 1880
- 417,001
Where it stands now
In the past decade the name slipped from #5 in 2015 to #7 in 2025: 15,667 girls got it in 2015, and 10,666 in 2025.
Decade by decade
Its best decade was the 2010s, when 170,605 girls were named Isabella, #4 for the decade. It ranked #256 in the 1880s and #7 in the 2020s so far.
Every 20 years in the records: 50 in 1880 (#215), 128 in 1900 (#290), 252 in 1920 (#418), 76 in 1940 (#817), 53 in 1960 (#1,523), 36 in 1980 (#2,603), 6,242 in 2000 (#45) and 12,226 in 2020 (#7).
Highs and lows
The most girls given the name in a single year was 22,936, in 2010. Its best rank in any year was #1, first reached in 2009.
Every year
The table lists every year from 1880 to 2025 in which Social Security recorded at least 5 girls named Isabella, with the name’s rank that year.
| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1880 | 50 | #215 |
| 1881 | 50 | #216 |
| 1882 | 44 | #262 |
| 1883 | 54 | #244 |
| 1884 | 76 | #216 |
| 1885 | 48 | #290 |
| 1886 | 80 | #228 |
| 1887 | 58 | #278 |
| 1888 | 63 | #296 |
| 1889 | 80 | #262 |
| 1890 | 91 | #262 |
| 1891 | 79 | #277 |
| 1892 | 88 | #285 |
| 1893 | 109 | #251 |
| 1894 | 92 | #288 |
| 1895 | 90 | #305 |
| 1896 | 88 | #310 |
| 1897 | 86 | #312 |
| 1898 | 86 | #336 |
| 1899 | 94 | #304 |
| 1900 | 128 | #290 |
| 1901 | 92 | #315 |
| 1902 | 84 | #346 |
| 1903 | 96 | #317 |
| 1904 | 88 | #348 |
| 1905 | 105 | #329 |
| 1906 | 110 | #317 |
| 1907 | 126 | #310 |
| 1908 | 112 | #336 |
| 1909 | 97 | #375 |
| 1910 | 151 | #311 |
| 1911 | 129 | #353 |
| 1912 | 161 | #361 |
| 1913 | 165 | #374 |
| 1914 | 187 | #389 |
| 1915 | 242 | #387 |
| 1916 | 246 | #401 |
| 1917 | 237 | #410 |
| 1918 | 254 | #411 |
| 1919 | 274 | #391 |
| 1920 | 252 | #418 |
| 1921 | 236 | #449 |
| 1922 | 241 | #427 |
| 1923 | 228 | #454 |
| 1924 | 231 | #457 |
| 1925 | 205 | #489 |
| 1926 | 187 | #510 |
| 1927 | 182 | #522 |
| 1928 | 178 | #519 |
| 1929 | 155 | #548 |
| 1930 | 142 | #571 |
| 1931 | 139 | #554 |
| 1932 | 128 | #580 |
| 1933 | 116 | #603 |
| 1934 | 90 | #703 |
| 1935 | 93 | #693 |
| 1936 | 80 | #748 |
| 1937 | 105 | #664 |
| 1938 | 100 | #687 |
| 1939 | 86 | #735 |
| 1940 | 76 | #817 |
| 1941 | 96 | #719 |
| 1942 | 72 | #921 |
| 1943 | 90 | #816 |
| 1944 | 75 | #881 |
| 1945 | 64 | #968 |
| 1946 | 74 | #970 |
| 1947 | 82 | #975 |
| 1948 | 77 | #993 |
| 1949 | 68 | #1,088 |
| 1950 | 55 | #1,241 |
| 1951 | 65 | #1,160 |
| 1952 | 63 | #1,195 |
| 1953 | 63 | #1,213 |
| 1954 | 53 | #1,377 |
| 1955 | 61 | #1,292 |
| 1956 | 64 | #1,298 |
| 1957 | 65 | #1,316 |
| 1958 | 53 | #1,469 |
| 1959 | 48 | #1,567 |
| 1960 | 53 | #1,523 |
| 1961 | 53 | #1,553 |
| 1962 | 47 | #1,651 |
| 1963 | 50 | #1,598 |
| 1964 | 46 | #1,708 |
| 1965 | 39 | #1,829 |
| 1966 | 45 | #1,669 |
| 1967 | 43 | #1,751 |
| 1968 | 23 | #2,630 |
| 1969 | 30 | #2,350 |
| 1970 | 39 | #2,081 |
| 1971 | 42 | #2,001 |
| 1972 | 31 | #2,356 |
| 1973 | 32 | #2,349 |
| 1974 | 28 | #2,616 |
| 1975 | 31 | #2,516 |
| 1976 | 22 | #3,188 |
| 1977 | 23 | #3,267 |
| 1978 | 26 | #3,009 |
| 1979 | 22 | #3,541 |
| 1980 | 36 | #2,603 |
| 1981 | 38 | #2,488 |
| 1982 | 34 | #2,704 |
| 1983 | 31 | #2,783 |
| 1984 | 36 | #2,574 |
| 1985 | 36 | #2,657 |
| 1986 | 60 | #1,866 |
| 1987 | 75 | #1,630 |
| 1988 | 81 | #1,600 |
| 1989 | 140 | #1,168 |
| 1990 | 217 | #890 |
| 1991 | 305 | #699 |
| 1992 | 508 | #487 |
| 1993 | 831 | #318 |
| 1994 | 1,277 | #222 |
| 1995 | 1,739 | #174 |
| 1996 | 2,112 | #151 |
| 1997 | 2,862 | #114 |
| 1998 | 3,851 | #84 |
| 1999 | 5,060 | #60 |
| 2000 | 6,242 | #45 |
| 2001 | 8,835 | #28 |
| 2002 | 12,171 | #14 |
| 2003 | 13,781 | #12 |
| 2004 | 15,021 | #7 |
| 2005 | 15,197 | #6 |
| 2006 | 18,231 | #4 |
| 2007 | 19,143 | #2 |
| 2008 | 18,629 | #2 |
| 2009 | 22,321 | #1 |
| 2010 | 22,936 | #1 |
| 2011 | 19,931 | #2 |
| 2012 | 19,138 | #3 |
| 2013 | 17,689 | #4 |
| 2014 | 17,136 | #4 |
| 2015 | 15,667 | #5 |
| 2016 | 14,863 | #5 |
| 2017 | 15,263 | #4 |
| 2018 | 14,575 | #4 |
| 2019 | 13,407 | #5 |
| 2020 | 12,226 | #7 |
| 2021 | 11,309 | #7 |
| 2022 | 11,761 | #6 |
| 2023 | 10,871 | #7 |
| 2024 | 10,810 | #7 |
| 2025 | 10,666 | #7 |
How these numbers are counted
Social Security publishes, for every year since 1880, how many babies of each sex were given each name, counting any name given to at least 5. A name’s rank is its place that year among names for the same sex, by number of babies. Names with the same count share a rank here, while Social Security’s own lists break ties alphabetically, so a rank can differ from theirs by a place or two. A name’s share is the number of babies given it divided by all babies of that sex in the data that year, and its peak is the year that share was highest. Shares rather than counts set the peak, because far more babies were born in some years than others: counting babies alone would pull nearly every name’s peak toward the 1946–1964 baby boom.
Source: the U.S. Social Security Administration’s national baby name data, from Social Security card applications for babies born in the U.S. A name is left out of a year when fewer than 5 babies of one sex got it, and counts before about 1937 are incomplete, because many people born then never applied for a card. See how Baby Boom builds its data. Figures may contain errors.