ELIZABETH BARDSLEY

The usual spelling of Elisabeth in English. It is recorded in the medieval period, but was made popular by being borne by Queen Elizabeth I of England (1533–1603). In the 20th century it again became extremely fashionable, partly because it was the name of Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (1900–2002), who in 1936 became Queen Elizabeth as the wife of King George VI, and after his death in 1952 achieved great public affection as Queen Mother for nearly half a century. Even more influentially, it is the name of her daughter Queen Elizabeth II (b. 1926).

English: habitational name from Bardsley in Lancashire, so named from the genitive case of the Old English personal name Beornrēd (composed of the elements beorn ‘young warrior’ + rǣd ‘counsel’, ‘advice’) + Old English lēah ‘woodland clearing’.