Isabella

Isabella of Castile funded Columbus, Isabella of France married an English king, and Isabella Stewart Gardner filled a Venetian-style palazzo in Boston with stolen-looking treasures — the name has always belonged to women who left museums behind them. It is the Italian elaboration of Elizabeth, that ancient Hebrew oath (Elisheva, pledged to God), dressed up in Mediterranean finery. After a Twilight-era spike, Isabella settled into a comfortable top-ten residence in America. Four lilting syllables, vowel after vowel, the kind of name that fills its own mouth. Regal without being cold. A grand name that wears well on a very small person.