Isabel is lovely and I like
Isabel Cecily but I do think that it's way too popular and therefore wouldn't use it. At least you don't live in Germany (it has been popular here since the early 80s and is now a bit out of style, the same of what I think will happen in the USA. It will go out of style in the next 10 or 15 years and still be classic but sound a bit outdated like
Susan for example). In Germany the spellings
Isabel,
Isabell and
Isabelle are equally common so it's quite difficult.
Isabell is the
German spelling. The most popular nicknames are
Isi (rhymes with easy hehe) and
Isa. We pronounce
Isobel and
Isabel differently so there wouldn't be a problem.
I love
Isobel pronounced EE-so-bel.
Isabelle is alright but I know what you mean as I love
Annabel but can't stand
Annabelle. Isabeau would be a possibilty or just
Cecily Isabel which is lovely.
Oh and according to this site
Isabelle is actually more common that
Isabel (in the USA).
This message was edited 9/3/2008, 5:38 AM