Isabelle

Isabelle is the French dressing of Elizabeth, "pledged to God," and it arrived in medieval France with all the grace of a court ballet. The -elle ending gives the name a lingering softness, something between a curtsy and a sigh. Isabelle has been a favorite of francophile American parents for decades and currently sits in the U.S. top 170s, just behind its cousin Isabella. Three syllables, a melodic central vowel, a liquid l. It reads as lightly romantic, faintly bookish, a little Parisian balcony. Isabelle feels like a girl who will one day sign her name with a looping, confident hand.