Message: "Isela (origin)" - Behind the Name

Isela (origin)

by edenrowe

2/4/2010, 5:11 PM

Does anyone know the origin?
I've seen it listed as Russian, Spanish, and CONTRIVED on other sites.
I'm thinking Spanish...

Thanks.

#Isela

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- WillowBelle +1

2/5/2010, 12:10 AM

I Googled the name and came up with a baby-naming site that said it's Scottish, a variant of Isla. Hmm.

Since I'm an avid genealogy researcher, I went to the messsage boards at Ancestry.com and did a search for "Isela". I got almost 100 hits, mostly for people of Mexican ancestry, a few Italian, including some born in the early 1900s. No indication of where the name came from, but it apparently has been in use for a while.

This message was edited 2/5/2010, 12:10 AM

- Andy ;—) (guest)

2/5/2010, 8:44 AM

I looked up ISELA in Seibicke's HDV*, because I vaguely remembered having read it before. No Isela, but ISELIN. This is a name of Germanic origin, containing the element ISEN, iron.
I can well imagine Iselin being changed to Isela in Spain or Italy (like Ferdinand to Fernando), but I have no proof for this.

* Historisches Deutsches Vornamenbuch

- Ailis

2/5/2010, 2:34 AM

In Spanish, Isela is a Latin American variant of Icela, a nickname for Maricela. In Spain, Icela is pronounced ee-THEL-a, and Isela is ee-SEL-a, but in Latin America they are both pronounced ee-SEL-a, which explains the spelling change. Maricela can be written as Marisela in Latin America because of this.

Edit: Just remembered Maricela and Icela can also be written Marizela and Izela (albeit rarely) in Latin America, with the same pronunciation.

This message was edited 2/5/2010, 2:41 AM

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