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Bella
Always loved Bella but Twilight ruined it for me a bit. Still usable? Too common?It's only at #60 now (12 places down from 2010) and I think it will continue to fall. I don't consider #60 to be very common, but Isabella (#2) is extremely popular and I guess quite a few Isabellas get called Bella, even though it's possible that they go by Isabella or Izzy.Do you think Bella is a common nickname for Isabella? More common than Izzy? Or are they usually called by their full name? I only know two Isabellas and an Isabela. One of the Isabellas always goes by Bella the others go by their full names.
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Never really liked it even before the sudden surge in popularity.
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I've never liked Bella, even before twilight. I think it's usable, if you love it, go for it. I know lots of Isabella's/Isabela's and most of them go by Bella, but I think it's fine as a stand alone name. :)
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Bella is definitely still usable but I hate it. Not because Twilight, I disliked it long before Twilight. It has a really annoying sound. Yuck. I went to school with a girl called Bella. Her real name was Martina but she wanted everybody to call her Bella. She didn't exactly make me like the name.I think Bella is a common nickname for Isabella and yes, more common than Izzy.
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Yeah, Twilight ruined it for me, too. I wouldn't use it for awhile. Too many Isabellas go by Bella. And even if your name was Bella, everyone's first thought would be "Isabella." A few years ago, it would've been a sweet, good gem of a name. But it's far too overused at this point.
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Every little Isabella I know is Bella at least part of the time, the same way every little Sophia I know is called Sophie. I sometimes hear Iz/Is, but I never hear Izzy. It's mostly a combination of Bella and Isabella in full. IMO, for this new generation of Isabellas, Bella has got to be the most common nickname. I hear Bella a lot, but I can't always tell how many are just Bella and how many are Isabellas (or Arabellas, or Annabellas, etc). I would describe it as common and very "right now." Whether or not that makes it unusable is a personal judgment. I do think it's a pretty name. It's actually my cat's name; my son named her after a canine Bella we met while taking a walk, and we meet other people with dogs or cats named Bella all the time. I think it's as popular for pets as it is for children, but I don't think that's necessarily a strike against it. Of course, I'm one who loves Lucy, Toby, Max, Daisy, and a bunch of other "animal names"...
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Wow, I only know one Sophia who goes by Sophie (and I know quite a few), I thought she was an exception. I just don't get why people use Sophia if they call her Sophie all of the time. Sophie is perfectly fine as a full name, same with Julie, Sylvie etcYeah, the first Bella I met was actually a dog :P
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I think it's easy for many people to hear that -ee ending, so common in nicknames like Annie, Katie, and Maggie, and end up using names like Sophie, Sylvie, and Julie as nicks for their -ia ending counterparts. I actually prefer Sophie over Sophia, and I know that it's a full and complete French name, but it doesn't bother or surprise me to hear it used as a nickname.
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At this point, I would definitely say Bella is a more common nickname. Bella is too common for me, and I didn't ever like it that much to begin with. It's tired, the same way I think some names from the 80s are, but not quite as dated (obviously).ETA: My cousin's daughter (now 7 or 8) is named Isabella, but goes by Izzy, actually. Although my friend just adopted a dog with the name Bella.

This message was edited 5/31/2012, 9:09 AM

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I don't like Belle or Bella, never have, never will. Twilight is I think the only reason it has gotten so popular on its own. It is definitely a very popular nn for Isabella, in fact I've heard of people naming their daughters Isabella just so they can use Bella as the nn. Why they don't just call the kid Bella and be done I don't know.It's also pretty popular for dogs and cats.
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