(female) 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).
Variant: Elisabeth. See also Elspeth and Isabel.
Short forms: Eliza, Elsa, Liza, Lisa, Liz; Beth, Bet, Bess; Lisbet(h), Lizbet(h), Lysbet(h).
Pet forms: Elsie, Bessie, Bessy, Betty, Betsy, Tetty, Libby, Lizzie, Lizzy, Buffy.
Cognates: Irish: Eilís. Scottish Gaelic: Ealasaid. German, Dutch: Elisabeth. Scandinavian: Elisabet. French: Elisabeth. Spanish: Elisabet. Portuguese: Elisabete. Italian: Elisabetta. Greek: Elisavet. Russian: Yelizaveta. Polish: Elẓbieta. Czech: Alžběta. Slovenian: Elizabeta. Hungarian: Erzsébet.
English, Scottish, Irish, French, Dutch, German, Czech, Slovak, Spanish (Martín), Italian (Venice), etc.: from a personal name (Latin Martinus, a derivative of Mars, genitive Martis, the Roman god of fertility and war, whose name may derive ultimately from a root mar ‘gleam’). This was borne by a famous 4th-century saint, Martin of Tours, and consequently became extremely popular throughout Europe in the Middle Ages. As a North American surname, this form has absorbed many cognates from other European forms.
English: habitational name from any of several places so called, principally in Hampshire, Lincolnshire, and Worcestershire, named in Old English as ‘settlement by a lake’ (from mere or mær ‘pool’, ‘lake’ + tūn ‘settlement’) or as ‘settlement by a boundary’ (from (ge)mære ‘boundary’ + tūn ‘settlement’). The place name has been charged from Marton under the influence of the personal name Martin.
