Elisabeth

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Elisabeth

Gender: Feminine
Language: German, French, Hungarian, English
Etymology:
Elisabeth (or Élisabeth) is the German (or French) name that the English-speakers generally know as Elizabeth. Elizabeth comes from a Hebrew name, Elisheva, or Elisheba. Originally it meant “My God is Bountiful,” “God of Plenty,” “Consecrated to God,” “Oath of God,” “God is Satisfaction,” or “God is Perfection.”

History:
Elisabeth is the form Elizabeth takes in most modern European languages. In the United States it provides a “softer” alternative to the highly popular Elizabeth.

Please see Elizabeth for more information.

Pronunciation: ee-liss-ah-beth.

Diminutives:
English: Bess, Bessie, Bessy, Bet, Beth, Betsey, Betsy, Betti, Bettie, Betty, Bettye, Elisa, Lib, Libbie, Libby, Lili, Lilian, Lillian, Lisa, Lisbet, Lisbeth.
French: Élise, Eliesse, Babette, Bette, Lisette, Lysette, Lise.
German: Else, Lilo, Lise, Lisa, Lisette, Lizolet, Lotte, Ilse, Else.

Alternates: Elisabet, Lisabeth, Lisbeth.

Famous Bearers:
Artists and Authors:
Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun (1755-1842)
French painter.
Bettina von Arnim (Elisabeth Katharina Ludovica Magdalena von Arnim) (1784-1859)
German author.
Elisabet Ney (Franzisca Bernadina Wilhelmina Elisabeth Ney) (1833-1907)
German-American sculptor and feminist.
Elisabeth Luther Cary (1867-1936)
American art critic.
Dame Elisabeth Jean Frink (1930-1993)
British Bronze sculptor.

Educators, Scholars, and Social Workers:
Elisabeth Antoinette Irwin (1880- 1942)
American educator.

Miscellaneous:
Elisabeth Lämmerhirt (-1695)
Mother of Johann Sebastian Bach.
Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche (1846-1935)
Sister of the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche.

Religious Figures:
Saint (Sankt) Elisabeth of (von) Hungary (Ungarn) (1207-1231)
Daughter of King Andrew II of Hungary and wife to Louis IV of Thuringia.

Royalty:
Élisabeth de France (1764-1794)
Sister of King Louis XVII of France. She refused to leave him during the Reign of Terror and was guillotined.

Singers and Entertainers:
Elisabeth Schumann (1885-1952)
German-American soprano.
Dame Elisabeth Schwarzkopf (1915-)
German soprano.

Popularity:
Percentage from the 1990 U.S. Census:
0.023 % named Elisabeth

Popularity of Elisabeth:
Popularity (for newborns):
In the United States...
1800: 32nd most popular.
1850: 53rd most popular.
1875: 90th most popular.
1900-1910: 418th most popular.
1910-1920: 397th most popular.
1920-1930: 571st most popular.
1930-1940: 631st most popular.
1940-1950: 690th most popular.
1950-1960: 631st most popular.
1960-1970: 498th most popular.
1970-1980: 427th most popular.
1980-1990: 322nd most popular.
1990: 351st most popular.
1991: 356th most popular.
1992: 350th most popular.
1993: 330th most popular.
1994: 361st most popular.
1995: 371st most popular.
1996: 364th most popular.
1997: 331st most popular.
1998: 378th most popular.
1999: 409th most popular.
2000: 396th most popular.
2001: 289th most popular.
2002: 366th most popular.
2003: 422nd most popular.

In France...
1900: 36th most popular.
1910: 52nd most popular.
1920: 61st most popular.
1930: 75th most popular.
1940: 66th most popular.
1950: 30th most popular.
1960: 23rd most popular.
1970: 32nd most popular.
1980: 82nd most popular.
1990: 168th most popular.
1992: 185th most popular.
2000: N/A